Congress loosens family travel restrictions to Cuba

WASHINGTON — Democrats controlling Congress are loosening restrictions on allowing people of Cuban descent to visit their relatives on the island.

The Bush rules limit family visits to once every three years for no more than 14 days.

Travel spending is now capped at $50 per day.Once signed by Obama, the legislation would allow Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba once a year to visit relatives, spend up to $170 a day and visit for an unlimited duration.

The CSX diesel locomotive disappeared from the Kendall area late Sunday night.



Source: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090224/ARTICLES/902240961?Title=Congress-loosens-family-travel-restrictions-to-Cuba

Haskell defends decision to head to France

There have been concerns for England over the impact of a potential exodus across the Channel because overseas-based players do not automatically fall under much-heralded agreement between the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby Limited, the umbrella body for England's leading clubs.

But the Rugby Football Union will meet later this month to discuss the "long-term impact" of losing elite players to the French league.

The RFU will also meet with Premier Rugby to address the thorny issue of the distribution of compensation payments to clubs who produce England players, known as 'revenue smoothing'.

The Premiership is the best club league in the world and it develops players and the ethos of this club will not change because we want our guys to play at the highest level.



Source: http://www.scrum.com/francetop14/rugby/story/92020.html

CWNP Continues Steady Expansion

CWNP, the industry's only vendor-neutral , announced today the addition of authorized learning partners in California, Greece, Switzerland, France and the United Arab Emirates.

Announced partnerships include: - Based in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, the IT training and consulting firm works with both Fortune 500 Companies and the Department of Defense.

'IT professionals who can manage the ');" onMouseOut="setTimeout('hideLayer()',500);" class=hotlink2>enterprise across vendor lines will find they have the competitive edge.' About CWNP CWNP is the de facto standard for ');" onMouseOut="setTimeout('hideLayer()',500);" class=hotlink2>enterprise Wi-Fi training and certification.

Our focus is to educate IT professionals in the technology behind all enterprise WLAN products, enabling the ability for these professionals to enter an enterprise and manage its wireless LAN infrastructure regardless of the vendor solution utilized.



Source: http://www.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=657710

France/maïs OGM: Paris maintient la suspension des cultures (Fillon)

France/maïs OGM: Paris maintient la suspension des cultures (Fillon) - Environement - Actualités Rechercher sur le web : AFP - jeudi 12 février 2009, 14h54 France/maïs OGM: Paris maintient la suspension des cultures (Fillon) La France maintient la suspension de la culture du maïs OGM Monsanto en raison de l'incertitude sur les risques causés par sa dissémination dans l'environnement, a confirmé jeudi à Bruxelles le Premier ministre François Fillon."La France maintient la suspension en attendant une décision de la Commission (européenne), qu'elle respectera", a-t-il déclaré au cours d'un point de presse avec le président de la Commission européenne José Manuel Barroso."La décision de suspendre la culture (du maïs OGM) a été prise en vertu du principe de précaution au regard des risques potentiels sur l'environnement en matière de dissémination pour les cultures non OGM", a rappelé M.

Fillon.L'avis de l'Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments, selon lequel le maïs OGM Monsanto est sans danger pour la santé, "concerne le plan sanitaire", a ajouté le Premier ministre français."Dont acte", mais "il ne remet pas en cause les inquiétudes sur la question de la dissémination", a-t-il insisté pour justifier le maintient de la suspension, confirmant ce qu'avait annoncé un peu plus tôt son ministère de l'Ecologie à Paris."Nous restons ouverts au dialogue", a pour sa part assuré M.

Barroso.La Commission a demandé à la France et à trois autres pays --Autriche, Grèce et Hongrie-- de lever leurs clauses de sauvegarde."Il y aura une rencontre lundi à Bruxelles entre la France et les experts en sécurité alimentaire des Etats membres", a précisé M.

Un vote à la majorité qualifiée est prévu au cours de cette réunion.Si ce vote ne permet pas de dégager une majorité en faveur de la levée de ces clauses de sauvegarde ou contre, le sujet devra être arbitré par les ministres de l'Environnement de l'UE.



Source: http://news.fr.msn.com/environnement/article.aspx?cp-documentid=14073483

Paris rejects 'Obama-style' stimulus program

: Prime Minister François Fillon on Monday rejected demands that the French government seek to stimulate consumer spending, rather than follow his plan to stimulate corporate and infrastructure investment, to lift France out of its economic slump.

More than 1.1 million people took to the streets across France last Thursday, according to the Interior Ministry, with unions putting the number of protesters at 2.5 million, to call on President Nicolas Sarkozy to stop cutting government jobs, increase the minimum wage and spend more on households as the economy enters its first recession since 1993.

After the strike, Sarkozy adopted a conciliatory tone, noting that the public had "legitimate concerns," and he said he would meet with union leaders in February to explain his 2009 agenda and discuss how to best carry it out.

In December, Sarkozy announced a stimulus package worth ¬26 billion, or $33.4 billion, over 2009 and 2010, including ¬11.4 billion in early state reimbursement to companies, and about ¬10 billion in infrastructure investment by the government, local authorities and state-controlled companies.



Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/02/business/frecon.php

Amazon Lured Holiday Bargain Hunters With Deals - Forbes.com

Although the made for one of the worst holiday seasons for retailers, Amazon.com had a delayed gift for investors late Thursday when it posted an 18.2% sales surge in the fourth quarter and earnings that beat expectations.

Article Controls Robust results posted by Amazon.com came as the online marketplace operator lowered prices and reduced shipping costs to attract cash-strapped consumers to its site in the fourth quarter.

Sites in Britain, China, France, Germany and Japan collectively pulled in $3.1 billion in sales, representing a 19.0% increase from the prior year and a 31.0% surge, excluding the negative impact of foreign exchange rates.

The forecasts were within range of what analysts have been expecting with operating income of $175.0 million and sales of $4.6 billion.



Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/29/amazon-online-retailers-markets-equity-0129_markets37.html

DIARY - European Market Holidays to December 2009 | Markets | Markets ...

The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, hedge funds and more

It is the sudden shrinkage of GDP in nominal terms which presents the greatest threat to the solvency of the banking system and the rest of the economy in the coming year.

Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms.

Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.



Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSL0613093820090209

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Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601090&sid=aDHrcZbh9Meg&refer=france