Zidane head-butt now a statue

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:15 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2012

PARIS (AP) -The historic head-butt that marked the end of France great Zinedine Zidane's international football career is now more than just a memory.

A 5-meter-high bronze statue portraying Zidane aiming his shaven head at Italian opponent Marco Materazzi's torso has been erected in front of Paris' Centre Pompidou modern art museum.

Zidane lit up the field playing for Real Madrid and other professional teams and helped France to victory at the 1998 World Cup. But in the 110th minute of a riveting World Cup final in 2006 against Italy, Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi's chest, knocking him to the ground.

Zidane, who had been planning to retire after the World Cup, later apologized to viewers and said he was responding to repeated insults.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Zidane head-butt now a statue

The historic head-butt that marked the end of France great Zinedine Zidane's international football career is now more than just a memory.

Rooney returns from injury as United wins in cup

LONDON (AP) - Wayne Rooney returned from a monthlong injury absence, helping Manchester United to a 2-1 victory Wednesday that eliminated Newcastle from the League Cup. Arsenal and Tottenham advanced with ease on Wednesday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49178435/ns/sports-soccer/

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Home Remodeling Suggestions To Amaze! - Total Vibration

If you know someone that wants to boost their property, knowing the correct information and facts is a superb thing. There?s some valuable home improvement particulars in this post, so place them under consideration when you read.

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When creating home improvements, there are a number of anchoring screws you should use. It?s a good idea to know what sort of attach is best for which type of undertaking you possess planned. Timber anchoring screws are best for jobs that entail timber mainly because they could effortlessly proceed through it. Sheet metallic assignments call for sheet aluminum screws.

Through the use of the following tips, you will certainly be prepared for each and every project you are taking on. Also, this data can be beneficial in helping you decide if a specific task is in your scope of potential or if you need to retain the services of guidance.

There is more content available on washing machine repair richmond look at So B. Ursini?s site there is plenty of details not outlined in this article, find those details at Author?s site to uncover more.

Source: http://blog.thorsrubberhammer.com/2012/09/home-remodeling-suggestions-to-amaze-14/

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Sky+ launches 7-day Catch Up TV, 2TB HD DVRs and adds zeebox extras to its iPad app

Sky+ in the UK has bundled several updates to deliver all at once, including expected ones like zeebox integration into its iPad app and an expanded Catch Up TV lineup, plus a new 2TB Sky+ HD DVR. Viewers will notice the new 7-day Catch Up TV section in their video on-demand section stocked with shows from Sky, ITV Player and Demand 5, with BBC iPlayer arriving this fall and 4oD next year. The Sky+ iPad app has been updated to v4.1 with a notification for possible recording conflicts plus expanded content info and social tie-ins powered by zeebox. Now, you can not only change channels from the tablet, but also find out more about what's playing. Finally, the new expanded size DVR outpaces the stock configuration available from competitor Virgin Media, and we're told it is priced the same as the previous 1TB offering. Check after the break for a press release with all the details, the gallery for screenshots and a look at the DVR or hit iTunes to grab the updated app right now.

Gallery: Sky+ September Catch Up TV, 2TB DVR iPad update

Continue reading Sky+ launches 7-day Catch Up TV, 2TB HD DVRs and adds zeebox extras to its iPad app

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Sky+ launches 7-day Catch Up TV, 2TB HD DVRs and adds zeebox extras to its iPad app originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 06:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sky, iTunes  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/26/sky-launches-7-day-catch-up-tv-2tb-hd-dvrs-and-adds-zeebox-ext/

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Kazakh leader appoints PM as chief of staff

ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's powerful president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, appointed his long-serving prime minister as chief of staff on Monday in a move to balance the rival groups vying for influence in the oil-producing former Soviet state.

Karim Masimov, 47, was selected by Nazarbayev to run his presidential office after serving nearly six years as premier of Central Asia's largest economy, a period of sustained economic growth and billions of dollars in foreign investment.

The Nazarbayev loyalist replaces Aslan Musin, who was appointed head of the budgetary accounts committee.

Nazarbayev held closed-door talks with members of parliament about replacing Masimov. Two sources close to the government told Reuters that Serik Akhmetov, first deputy prime minister, was likely to be promoted to the premiership later on Monday.

Kazakhstan holds 3 percent of the world's recoverable oil reserves and has attracted more than $150 billion in foreign investment in two decades of independence from the Soviet Union.

Nazarbayev, 72, dominates political life and tolerates little dissent in a country of 17 million people stretching from the Caspian Sea to China. A member of the last Soviet Politburo, he has ruled Kazakhstan since before independence in 1991.

Without an obvious successor, the veteran leader periodically reassigns important jobs in the state apparatus to guard against any one group obtaining too much power. Analysts said both Masimov and Musin had grown in influence in the last year.

"Imbalances have appeared within the ruling elite," said Andrei Chebotaryov, an independent political analyst in Almaty.

He said Masimov had established himself as a political force in his own right after distancing himself from Timur Kulibayev, the president's billionaire son-in-law, who was removed from the top job at the sovereign wealth fund in December.

As head of the Samruk-Kazyna fund, Kulibayev was ultimately responsible for the oil companies where a long-running protest by thousands of sacked oil workers erupted into deadly clashes with police on December 16-17.

"If he (Masimov) had earlier been associated with Timur Kulibayev's group, he has developed into his own person in the last few years and created his own influential group," Chebotaryov said.

Masimov was appointed prime minister in January 2007 and is credited with having maintained economic growth through the worst of the global financial crisis, which struck Kazakhstan later the same year.

He was reappointed immediately after a parliamentary election in January. In an interview with Reuters at the time, he identified macroeconomic stability as his priority. Kazakhstan expects its economy to grow by 5.8 percent this year.

He also encouraged reforms to civil society and the justice system in the wake of the clashes in the oil region.

Akhmetov, identified by two sources as the leading candidate to replace Masimov, is a qualified metallurgical engineer who - like Nazarbayev - began his career at the steel plant in the city of Temirtau now owned by ArcelorMittal.

Prior to his appointment as first deputy prime minister in the January cabinet reshuffle, 54-year-old Akhmetov had been governor of the industrial region of Karaganda.

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Solovyov in Almaty and Raushan Nurshayeva in Astana; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kazakh-pm-karim-masimov-resigns-presidential-press-044747407.html

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Born to Die

A tragic love story over the course of two years between two different couples.

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Everyone should be loved for who they are not what they wear or what they look like, everyone deserves to be loved by someone!

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Iran MP says IAEA gave nuclear secrets to Israel

DUBAI (Reuters) -- A senior Iranian lawmaker accused the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog on Sunday of passing confidential information about Iran's nuclear activities to Israel.

In the latest sign of strained relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament's presiding board, said IAEA chief Yukiya Amano would be to blame if Iran reduced its ties with the body.

"Amano's repeated trips to Tel Aviv and asking the Israeli officials' views about Iran's nuclear activities indicates that Iran's nuclear information has been disclosed to the Zionist regime (Israel) and other enemies of the Islamic Republic," Jahangirzadeh was quoted as saying by Iran's English-language Press TV.

"If the agency's actions lead to Iran cutting cooperation with this international body, all responsibility will be with the IAEA director general," said Jahangirzadeh, a member of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee.

The IAEA was not immediately available to comment on his allegation.

Last week, Iranian nuclear energy chief Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani said "terrorists" might have infiltrated the Vienna-based agency. He suggested the IAEA included too much sensitive information about Iran's nuclear program in its reports that he said could be used by saboteurs.

Western diplomats dismissed his allegations as an attempt to distract attention away from the agency's bid to gain access to a site in Iran it suspects was used for nuclear weapons research, something Tehran denies.

Iran blames Israel and its Western allies for the assassination of nuclear scientists in Iran, including an unsuccessful attempt on Abbasi-Davani in November 2010. It also blames those countries for computer viruses that appeared designed to damage its nuclear machinery.

The 35-nation board of the agency censured Iran earlier this month for defying international demands to curb uranium enrichment and failing to address mounting disquiet about its suspected research into atomic bombs.

The resolution prompted Iran's Parliament Speaker, Ali Larijani, to cast doubt on the benefit of Iran's membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Tehran Times reported.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, told a news conference last week that Tehran would withdraw from the NPT if attacked by Israel which has increased hints it may launch air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.

Iran's parliament does not decide matters of foreign policy and national security, which are the province of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=522636

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WATCH: Cerritos Deputies Escort Embattled Anti-Islam Filmmaker ...

cerritos.patch.com:

After a three-day long media stakeout outside the home of a Cerritos?man linked to the making of the anti-Islam movie that has ignited a firestorm of outrage and violence abroad, Cerritos Sheriff's Station deputies on Saturday escorted the filmmaker, whose face was cloaked in secrecy, out of his residence shortly after midnight.

The late night exit began when four Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department vehicles, including an unmarked car, carrying members of the Cerritos Station's Special Assignment Operations (SAO) team rolled up to the scene of the media blitzed cul-de-sac and quickly made their way toward a gate on the left side of the two-story home. After one of the deputies knocked on the black wrought-iron gate, the entrance swung open and two SAO team members made entry into the home's backyard. Meanwhile five deputies stoically stood in front of the gate as a handful of news crews stood by documenting the operation in progress. LASD spokesman Steve Whitmore and Cerritos Sheriff's Capt. Joe Gonzales were also present.?

Read the whole story at cerritos.patch.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/watch-cerritos-deputies-e_n_1888377.html

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Anti-Putin protesters show their strength in Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched though Moscow under streaming banners, flags and balloons on Saturday to demand an end to President Vladimir Putin's long rule and show their protest movement remains strong.

Protesters chanted "Russia without Putin!" in the first big rally since June, defying increasingly tough Kremlin measures against the opposition since the former KGB spy began another six years in the Kremlin in May.

Some demonstrators released colorful balloons decorated with ski masks like the ones worn by the Pussy Riot punk band, three of whose members have been jailed for singing a profanity-laced protest song against Putin in a church.

Witnesses said opposition leaders appeared to have achieved their goal of attracting at least 50,000 people, enough to maintain the momentum of their nine-month-old movement but almost certainly too few to increase alarm in the Kremlin.

"The summer has gone, three months since our last march. Not a single demand has been met ... on the contrary, repressions have only gathered pace, more people have been arrested," far-left leader Sergei Udaltsov told a rally after the march.

Recalling a stunt in which Putin flew in a light aircraft alongside migrating cranes this month, Udaltsov said: "The president has detached himself from reality. He flies with cranes and just spits on the people from above."

Organizers also released white balloons and doves into the cloudy sky before opposition leaders led the march down a leafy central Moscow boulevard behind a long banner declaring: "For early elections! Against repression!"

Some wore T-shirts demanding the release of 17 protesters facing trial over a rally on May 6 that ended in clashes with police. Others said it was vital to keep attending protests to inspire others to join them and to defy the Kremlin's pressure.

"We will come here as if to work. It must be part of our everyday life," said Alexei Navalny, an opposition blogger and protest organizer. "I want each of us to ask ourselves when we look in the mirror in the morning what we can do for freedom."

Riot police were out in force but stood by watching for most of the day, until witnesses said they detained Udaltsov and several others around 10 p.m. (1800 GMT), the time by which city authorities had said the eight-hour protest must end.

KREMLIN UNMOVED

The protesters say Putin's return to the Kremlin after four years as premier is a setback for democracy. He could now extend his rule of Russia to 24 years if he wins another term when his mandate expires in 2018.

This would mean ruling longer than Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, and opponents fear political and economic stagnation.

"People who lived in the Soviet Union are tired of absolute rulers. We're tired of a police state," said Alexander Kokhmansky, 79, as he marched.

Sergei Yevseyev, 35, said he was protesting against "the total lawlessness, total corruption, the lack of civil freedoms, the absence of independent courts and social injustice."

There was also more focus on social problems than at previous protests, and more communists marched this time with nationalists, liberals, gay rights campaigners and leftists.

Other marchers wanted to show solidarity, without being confident the opposition can achieve much after failing to select a leader or touch off protests outside the big cities.

The demonstrations began last December over allegations of fraud in a parliamentary election won by Putin's party and turned into the biggest protests against him since he first became president in 2000, at times drawing up to 100,000 people.

Putin, who is 60 next month, dismisses the protesters as a minority who do not have wide support across Russia. Apart from some minor electoral reforms at the peak of the protests last winter, the Kremlin has resisted calls for political change.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told Interfax news agency as saying the president had been working in his residence in the resort of Sochi and paid no attention to the rally.

"Alas we are unable to monitor that action," he said.

CONCERN OVER CLAMPDOWN

Even so, opinion polls show Putin's ratings, although still high by Western standards, are falling.

Speakers at the rally criticized Putin over new laws increasing protesters' fines, stiff punishment for defamation and new controls on foreign-funded campaign groups.

Opposition deputy Gennady Gudkov was expelled from parliament on Friday on allegations of continuing business activities while holding a seat in the house and Navalny could face 10 years in jail on theft charges. Both deny the charges.

"There is no more constitution in Russia. There are no more rights and there is no more parliament worthy of respect," Gudkov told the crowd.

About 2,000 people protested in St Petersburg, witnesses said, and Udaltsov said police detained some 15 protesters in the central city of Nizhny Novgorod. A small protest took place in Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, and witnesses said a there was a small rally in the far east city of Vladivostok.

(Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, Nastassia Astrasheuskaya and alissa de Carbonnel; Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Steve Gutterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/anti-putin-protesters-show-strength-russia-060539510.html

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Tickets for the Food & Wine Festival in Miami Beach!. CoupTessa ...

Girls, you may think the only time of year for a food and wine festival in Miami is in February, but then you'd be missing out on an awfully good time in September. The Flavor of Miami is a yummy event with great foods, delicious wines, live music, and a ton of other perks ALL for a good cause, and today's Coup is your ticket to it!

My Girls can choose from:

• $99 for Two General Admission Tickets ($240 Value)?
• $149 for Two VIP Tickets ($400 Value)

Note: A portion of the proceeds will benefit Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Florida?s largest and oldest private agency serving the blind and visually impaired.

The Flavor of Miami will take place on September 27th from 8PM to 10:30PM at the Miami Beach Convention Center. While there, you girls will get to sample the finest cuisine from several South Florida restaurants, caterers, and culinary chefs along with many international wines and spirits. Here's how the set up will go (I always like to know these things ahead of time so I can sashay directly to where I need to be in order to have "Maximum Beverage Enjoyment Time"): The first and second level will each have a wine bar which will be serving FULL glasses from several wineries. The third floor is dedicated to the ultra-swanky VIP lounge, where you girls can listen to live music while sipping a cocktail or a glass of wine. (Did I mention there are UNLIMITED drinks? No? Well allow me to assure you- there are!)

For those of you who purchase a General Admission tickets, you'll get to sample delicious dishes from over 12 of Miami's best restaurants, including Toscana Divino, Season's 52, Los Ranchos Steakhouse, Ocean's Ten Miami Beach, LA Sweets, and many more, while also having access to the unlimited wine bars.

For all my Girls who'd like to party it up VIP style, you too will get to enjoy all of the food samples and have access to your own premium open bar while relaxing in the VIP lounge for the night! Not ready to call it a night by 10:30? Then stick around for the FREE after party, where a cash bar will be available, as well as a variety of music to help you dance the night away.

Oh, and Girls, you'll want to dress to impress! The dress code for this event is elegant, classy, sexy, and suave (business attire is permitted for anyone who needs a better visual as to what qualifies as "suave"). So save the flip flops and shorts for another day- this is your night to get all dolled up!

The Flavor of Miami is a great event for a great cause, and a food and wine fest that all of us Miami Girls can appreciate!

You deserve it... at this price, what a coup!

Source: http://www.couptessa.com/deals/city/miami/food-wine-festival-on-miami-beach

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Chicago teachers strike may drag on, talks stall

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago teachers stayed away from public schools for a third day on Wednesday in a strike over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's demand for tough teacher evaluations that U.S. education reform advocates see as crucial to fixing urban schools.

With more than 350,000 children from kindergarten to high school age out of school, the patience of parents and labor negotiators began to fray as hopes of a quick resolution to the biggest U.S. labor strike in a year were dashed.

"There's frustration on both sides," Jesse Ruiz, vice president of the Chicago Board of Education, said on Wednesday. "There's got to be give and take."

Talks are scheduled to resume on Wednesday. Emanuel on Sunday called the strike "unnecessary" and said a deal was close. But fiery union president Karen Lewis, who has called Emanuel a "liar and a bully," on Tuesday said the two sides had agreed on only six of 49 provisions of a new contract.

An exasperated Chicago School Board President David Vitale said he would not go back to the negotiating table until the union made a comprehensive proposal to resolve the strike.

"I think the key is that the people making these decisions want to make them unilaterally," Lewis told reporters outside the site of talks at a Chicago hotel on Wednesday.

Lewis led the walkout on Monday of more than 29,000 teachers and support staff in the nation's third-largest school district, saying the union would not agree to school reforms it considers misguided and disrespectful.

The dispute jolted the United States, where a weakened labor movement seldom stages strikes and even less frequently wins them. Organized labor has lost several fights in the last year including Wisconsin stripping public sector unions of most of their bargaining power, Indiana making union dues voluntary and two California cities voting to pare pensions for union workers.

The strike in Barack Obama's home city has also put the U.S. president in a tough spot between his ally and former top White House aide Emanuel and labor unions Obama is counting on to win re-election on November 6.

Obama has said nothing in public about the dispute, allowing administration surrogates to urge the two sides to settle.

"The president has said what is appropriate to be said, which is that it is a local issue," said Randi Weingarten, national president of the union that represents Chicago teachers. "It has to be settled at the bargaining table."

Obama's own Education Department has championed some of the reforms Emanuel is seeking, and a win for the ambitious Chicago mayor would add momentum to the national school reform movement.

"Being on the sidelines at the moment is fine. As long as it gets settled in a reasonable time period, no one's going to blame the president," Dick Simpson, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said of Obama and the 2012 election.

"He needs to get the full support of the unions and the Democratic Party but he also has to appeal to the independent voter to win the margin in the key states," Simpson said.

Emanuel, who was scheduled to speak to a group of bankers in New York on Friday, has canceled the trip, his office said.

NO COMMON GROUND?

The first poll of Chicago voters since the strike showed 47 percent supporting the teachers union, 39 percent against the strike and the rest uncommitted, according to the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.

The city is operating 147 schools with non-union staff to offer meals and "keep children safe and engaged," but only a fraction of parents have been using that option, officials say.

At Disney elementary school on the city's northwest said, several dozen strikers with homemade signs targeting Emanuel and school policies picketed in cool, sunny weather on Wednesday.

Kent Barnhart, a music teacher for the past 25 years, said neighborhood parents had been supportive, offering water and opening their homes and even joining picket lines to march. But he said teachers were frustrated with the slow talks.

"It's difficult for us to understand why they have not truly discussed over the last 11 months things that have been very important," he said of school officials. "It didn't seem like they took it seriously - really important things like evaluations, health benefits and pay."

Both sides agree Chicago schools need fixing. Chicago students consistently perform poorly on standardized math and reading tests. About 60 percent of high school students graduate, compared with 75 percent nationwide and more than 90 percent in some affluent Chicago suburban schools.

The fight does not appear to center on wages, with the school district offering an average 16 percent rise over four years and some benefit improvements.

The union is fiercely opposed to Emanuel's demand that teacher performance be evaluated in part on the results of their students on standardized tests because it says teachers have no control over the conditions in which students live such as crime-ridden neighborhoods, poverty and disengaged parents.

More than 80 percent of Chicago public school students qualify for free lunches at school because they come from low-income households.

(Additional reporting by Nick Carey, Michael Hirtzer and Renita Young; writing by Peter Bohan; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chicago-mayor-emanuel-striking-teachers-still-deadlocked-010545104.html

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