Assange walks free after nine days in jail

The WikiLeaks founder celebrates as he emerges to speak to the media on the steps of the high court Link to this video The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, walked free after nine days in jail last night when a high court judge released him on bail. However, the judge warned him that he is almost certain to be extradited to Sweden to face sex assault allegations. The court refused an attempt by the Crown Prosecution Service to stop Assange being freed, but imposed tougher bail conditions than previously outlined by a lower court, which meant his lawyers had to scramble to meet them before he was returned to prison for another night. Finally Assange emerged on to the steps of the high court at 5.46pm, as snow began to fall, to make a defiant statement and to thank his supporters. "I hope to continue my work and to continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal, as we get it, as we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations," he said. As well as the prospect of a trial in Sweden, there is a growing consensus among US constitutional lawyers and other legal experts that Assange will be indicted by Washington. After his release he said that even if he were indicted in the US, the spilling of state secrets would continue. He said that WikiLeaks was a "resilient organisation" that could "withstand decapitation attacks". Last week City of Westminster magistrates remanded Assange in custody because they said he posed too high a danger of absconding. On Tuesday his lawyers won a reversal of that decision, with a judge granting him bail on tough conditions – but the CPS appealed. Yesterday at the high court Mr Justice Ouseley rejected the CPS argument that there were no conditions a judge could impose that would stop Assange from fleeing. He ordered the CPS to pay costs but imposed new conditions on Assange. His bail will see him stay at Ellingham Hall in Norfolk, owned by Vaughan Smith, a former army captain, who was approved to provide surety at Tuesday's hearing along with the restaurant designer Sarah Saunders. While at the mansion, Assange must observe a curfew and be tagged. He will have to report daily to a police station, and £200,000 in security, raised by his supporters, has been paid into the court. But there are no restrictions now on his access to the internet or communications, meaning he is much more able to defend himself and WikiLeaks from US anger. The legal victory for Assange yesterday was a small step in what is likely to be a long battle. Ouseley warned him that the Swedish warrant was likely to be upheld, and that he would be extradited to face a trial for the alleged attacks. Assange's mother, Christine, who was in court, said she was "very, very happy". She added: "I can't wait to see my son and to hold him close. I had faith in the British justice system to do the right thing, and that faith has been confirmed today." For hours, it was far from certain that Assange's supporters and lawyers would manage to get him out in time. They had struggled to track down five more people the judge had approved as guarantors that Assange will observe his strict bail conditions. Some had to go to City of Westminster magistrates to sign the official paperwork and others who were out of London had to go to nominated police stations. Among those approved by the high court to act as surety were the Nobel prize winner Sir John Sulston, Lord Evans, an ex-Labour minister and former chairman of Faber & Faber, and the Marchioness of Worcester. Ouseley said he was concerned that some on the list of people willing to act as surety were doing so because they supported WikiLeaks, and would think a greater cause had been served if Assange skipped bail to avoid trial in Sweden. He warned Assange that if he tried to flee he would be "found to have exploited quite ruthlessly those who have put their trust in him and to have let them down". On Channel 4 News last night, Assange maintained he was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the US with the assistance of the Swedish intelligence service. "There is an ongoing attempt by the US to extradite me to the US and that extradition is much more likely to occur if I am already in Sweden." He said his Swedish legal team had now been passed evidence relating to the rape charges against him. "There has never been a single page provided to me in English and, until two weeks ago, not a single page whatsoever provided in any form to my Swedish counsel – even in Swedish. This is a clear, clear abuse of process." Assange later described the rape allegations against him as "a very successful smear campaign and a very wrong one". Speaking on BBC 2's Newsnight, he said information relating to accusations had been leaked either by "the Swedish prosecution service or some organisations that have obtained selective material". He said: "My lawyers informed me this afternoon there will be another smear attempt relating to this investigation some time tomorrow." Speaking outside Ellingham Hall later, Assange said his lawyers in Sweden had got hold of 100 pages of material related to the allegations but he had yet to receive a comprehensive English translation. He said there could also be an attempt by the US to charge him with spying. "We have heard today from one of my US lawyers, yet to be confirmed, but a serious matter, that there may be a US indictment for espionage for me, coming from a secret US grand jury investigation," he told Sky TV. "Obviously it is extremely serious, and one of the concerns that we have had since I have been in the UK is whether the extradition proceeding to Sweden, which is occurring in a very strange and unusual way, is actually an attempt to get me into a jurisdiction which will then make it easier to extradite me to the United States."

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Rumer Willis named Face of Badgley Mischka Spring 2011 Campaign

Rumer Willis is Face of Badgley Mischka’s new ad campaign. The 22-year-old daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis is embracing her good looks as new face of Badgley Mischka’s Spring 2011 ad campaign.

Luxe label Badgley Mischka’s designer duo, Mark Badgley and James Mischka released explained:

“We adore Rumer, she is glamorous, youthful and fun…[she] captures the spirit of all of our spring collections, especially our newly launched Mark + James collection.”

This is Rumer Willis’s first major ad campaign that will debut in the March issues of fashion mags like Vogue, InStyle, Harper’s Bazaar.

Rumer Willis Badgley Mischka Spring 2011 Ad was shot by fashion photographer Tony Duran in Malibu, Calif. In it, she will be seen flaunting couture eveningwear, the new Mark + James contemporary collection, as well as handbags, footwear jewelry and swimwear.

With this, Willis gets entry into A-list models including Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Sharon Stone and Eva Longoria who have modeled for this celebrity-heavy brand in past.

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Apple updates Airport, Time Capsule firmware and software

Apple has posted a firmware update for all 802.11n-capable Airport base stations and Time Capsules, as well as new versions of Airport Utility for Mac and Windows. The firmware update, labelled 7.5.2, closes several security holes as well as bolsters stability under IPv6. It also fixes issues with Airplay streaming, USB connectivity, addresses some issues with NAT port mapping and disables TKIP security for 802.11n in accordance with the Wi-Fi Alliance specifications.
The firmware update specifically addresses security issues CVE-2008-4309, CVE-2009-2189, CVE-2010-0039, CVE-2009-1574 and CVE-2010-1804, most of which deal with the Airport or Time Capsule's ability to maintain service and stability in the face of remote attacks. Exploits included an integer overflow error in SNMP, large-number packets in IPv6, a vulnerability in portmapped FTP services and DHCP and DDOS attacks.

Airport Utility 5.5.2 for Macs resolves a DHCP setting tab display issue, improves stability and fixes an issue that prevented a network password from being correctly stored in Keychain when the network on the 5GHz band was named differently to a network on the lower bands. It requires Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later and weighs in at 10.29MB.

Airport Utility 5.5.2 for Windows is also available, a 10.04MB update fixing the same issues as the Mac update. Apple recommends that the Airport Utility update be done prior to installing the 7.5.2 firmware update.

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Julian Assange bail decision made by UK authorities, not Sweden

The decision to have Julian Assange sent to a London jail and kept there was taken by the British authorities and not by prosecutors in Sweden, as previously thought, the Guardian has learned.

The Crown Prosecution Service will go to the high court tomorrow to seek the reversal of a decision to free the WikiLeaks founder on bail, made yesterday by a judge at City of Westminster magistrates court.

It had been widely thought Sweden had made the decision to oppose bail, with the CPS acting merely as its representative. But today the Swedish prosecutor's office told the Guardian it had "not got a view at all on bail" and that Britain had made the decision to oppose bail.

Lawyers for Assange reacted to the news with shock and said CPS officials had told them this week it was Sweden which had asked them to ensure he was kept in prison.

Karin Rosander, director of communications for Sweden's prosecutor's office, told the Guardian: "The decision was made by the British prosecutor. I got it confirmed by the CPS this morning that the decision to appeal the granting of bail was entirely a matter for the CPS. The Swedish prosecutors are not entitled to make decisions within Britain. It is entirely up to the British authorities to handle it."

As a result, she said, Sweden will not be submitting any new evidence or arguments to the high court hearing tomorrow morning. "The Swedish authorities are not involved in these proceedings. We have not got a view at all on bail."

After the Swedish statement was put to the CPS, it confirmed that all decisions concerning the opposing of bail being granted to Assange had been taken by its lawyers. It said: "In all extradition cases, decisions on bail issues are always taken by the domestic prosecuting authority. It would not be practical for prosecutors in a foreign jurisdiction … to make such decisions."

Last week Sweden issued a warrant for Assange's arrest and extradition over sexual assault allegations. On 7 December the British prosecutor, Gemma Lindfield, convinced the senior district court judge Howard Riddle that Assange must be kept in custody because he was a flight risk.

Yesterday the judge accepted that Assange could be released on bail, but he was kept in Wandsworth prison after the CPS said it wanted to appeal against the decision to grant bail to a higher court.

The CPS's formal grounds of appeal for the hearing tomorrow morning, seen by the Guardian, will say that Assange must be kept in prison until a decision is made whether to extradite him, which could take months.

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Industrial Production Rises, Inflation Slows

Industrial production in the U.S. increased more than forecast in November and consumer prices slowed, indicating the recovery is gaining momentum without generating inflation.

Output at factories, mines and utilities rose 0.4 percent, the biggest gain since July, after a revised 0.2 percent drop in October, a Federal Reserve report showed today in Washington. The consumer-price index climbed 0.1 percent in November after a 0.2 percent gain the prior month, the Labor Department said.

Assembly lines are speeding up as business investment and exports grow and consumer spending accelerates, helping to buoy an expansion that Fed policy makers said yesterday isn’t strong enough to reduce a jobless rate hovering near 10 percent. Price increases that are below central bankers’ goal will boost the case to maintain the Fed’s purchases of $600 billion in securities through June to spur growth.

“The manufacturing sector continues to heal itself,” said John Herrmann, a senior fixed-income strategist at State Street Global Markets in Boston. “The outlook for business spending on equipment and software remains very positive.” Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke “is unlikely to withdraw accommodation until he sees a clear upward turning point in core inflation and a downward turn in unemployment.”

Stocks fell, dragging the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down from a two-year high after a six-day rally left the gauge at its most expensive level since June. Economists forecast a 0.3 percent gain in production, according to the median of 75 projections in a Bloomberg News survey.

Stocks Gain

The S&P 500 declined 0.5 percent to 1,235.23 at the 4 p.m. close in New York. Treasury securities retreated, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note up to 3.53 percent from 3.48 late yesterday.

Factory production increased 0.3 percent for a second month, the Fed’s report showed, led by a 0.9 percent increase in business equipment, including computers, communications equipment and semiconductors.

Rising international demand and the need to replace aging equipment is a boon to manufacturers. Exports rose to a two-year high in October, Commerce Department figures showed Dec. 10. Business spending on equipment and software advanced at a 17 percent annual rate in the third quarter.

Broadcom Corp., the biggest maker of chips for television set-top boxes, yesterday increased its fourth-quarter revenue projection to about $1.9 billion, the top end of an earlier forecast range. Irvine, California-based Broadcom is making inroads in the mobile-phone market, supplying radio chips for handsets from South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and Finland’s Nokia Oyj.

Extended Recovery

“We have seen now an extended period of time of recovery in the components business,” Paul Reilly, chief financial officer of Arrow Electronics Inc., said yesterday at a conference in New York. Melville, New York-based Arrow is a distributor of electronic components and computer products to industrial customers.

The need for truckers to replace aging vehicles has brought improvements at Wabash National Corp. The Lafayette, Indiana- based maker of semi-truck trailers has “nearly doubled” its workforce this year, adding over 1,200 associates, chief executive officer Richard Giromini said in a Bloomberg Television interview Dec. 13.

“The industry has improved dramatically, demand has increased and our customers are now feeling much more comfortable placing orders to replace their aged equipment going forward,” Giromini said.

Auto Production

Carmakers decreased output by 6 percent last month, the first drop since August, even as demand climbed, indicating production may rebound in coming months. Factory output excluding motor vehicles, rose 0.7 percent in November, the biggest gain since May.

Nationwide, capacity utilization, which measures the amount of a plant in use, increased to 75.2 percent last month, the highest level since October 2008. The gauge averaged 80 percent over the past 20 years, signaling there’s enough spare equipment to prevent bottlenecks that would lead prices higher.

“We’re very far from getting close to stretching industrial capacity,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Securities LLC in New York.

The median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a 0.2 percent gain in the consumer-price index. The so-called core measure, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, also rose 0.1 percent, matching the median forecast.

Price Cuts

Retailers that are cutting prices are drumming up demand, while those not discounting enough are struggling.

Best Buy Co., the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer, yesterday slashed its annual profit forecast amid increasing competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp. Best Buy lost TV sales in the third quarter to “the large discounters” that promoted the least-expensive models, Chief Executive Brian Dunn said on a conference call.

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders was unchanged in December from a month earlier, indicating residential construction will stay near depressed levels, a National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo’s index showed today.

Fed policy makers are concerned economic growth is not strong enough to reduce unemployment, which climbed to a seven- month high of 9.8 percent in November.

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Council loses fight against cinema drinking

A council has lost a fight against alcohol being allowed in more cinemas at the Marion complex in Adelaide.

Greater Union has served alcohol in its upmarket gold class cinemas since 2004 and applied to extend its liquor licence to cover all cinemas in the complex.

Marion Council objected and the proposal was amended to include only some extra cinemas.

The Liquor and Gambling Commissioner has approved the revised application with conditions relating to security and noise.

Marion mayor Felicity Ann Lewis said the council was worried about the possible impact for families.

"We would be encouraging parents to be fairly vigilant about supervision of their children in that area," she said.

"I think in the past families have been fairly comfortable to give their children a fair amount of freedom in that environment."

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Taliban claim responsibility for Pakistan blasts that killed 50

The Taliban claimed responsibility Monday for two explosions targeting a government building in Pakistan's tribal region, a Taliban leader said.

The blasts killed 50 people and injured at least 70 others, according to Shamas Ul Islam, a senior government official in Mohmand Agency.

Umar Khalid, head of the Pakistani Taliban in Mohmand Agency, said pamphlets had been distributed in the area 20 days ago warning members of peace committees or Lashkars (tribal militias) to abandon any efforts to join the government in fighting militants or face "consequences."

"We will continue to attack all pro-government officials and their supporters who try to join any peace committees or Lashkars," Khalid said.

The blasts occurred as government officials were about to meet with members of a volunteer militia group established to fight militants in the area, said Maqsood Amin, another senior government official in Mohmand Agency.

Among those killed in the blasts was Haji Kachkol Khan, a senior leader of the peace committeee, Islam said.

Amin said two suicide bombers were responsible for the blasts. One detonated inside the building and another outside the building's gate, he said.

The explosions occurred in the agency's headquarters of Ghalanai, Pakistan. A curfew has been imposed in Ghalanai as a preventive measure, Islam said.

The victims were taken to a local hospital after the blast, said Mohammad Zafar, a senior medical officer.

Monday's attacks were not the first time anti-Taliban and pro-government militias have been targeted in Pakistan. The attacks have been increasing over the past year, but Monday's was one of the deadliest attacks this year. A November 5 suicide attack targeting a mosque in Dera Adam Khel, where locals had formed an anti-Taliban militia, killed 67 people. In July, another suicide attack killed more than 100 people, also in Mohmand Agency.

Mohmand is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal agencies along the 1,500-mile border that Pakistan shares with Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military has been battling insurgents in the area for some time.

The attacks underscore that when locals decide to take a stand against the Taliban, there are sometimes deadly consequences. The Taliban usually warns locals against taking such actions, as they did in Monday's attacks. The Pakistani government has said that such suicide attacks are a sign that the Taliban is growing desperate and becoming more aware that Pakistanis are taking a stand against them.

In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan condemned the attacks. "While details of these suicide attacks are still being verified, it is clear this vicious crime killed and wounded many innocent people," the statement said. "Our thoughts and sympathies are with the individuals and families affected by these inhumane acts."

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Julian Assange ready to meet police, says his lawyer

A lawyer working for Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange has said he is trying to arrange for his client to meet the police.

The Metropolitan Police have received a European arrest warrant for Mr Assange from Sweden.

The Australian denies allegations he sexually assaulted two women in Sweden.

Mr Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, has criticised the Swedish prosecutors, saying Mr Assange had been offering to meet since August.

He said they had offered to put Mr Assange up for interview at the Swedish embassy, by video conference recorded in Sweden or at Scotland Yard.

Mr Stephens said: "So far the Swedish prosecutor has declined to take up those offers.

"That's obviously to be regretted, and is deeply unsatisfactory both for the women who made the complaints, and indeed for Julian Assange, whose name's been so comprehensively traduced, particularly in the last seven days in the week while the cables have been released."

Mr Stephens said: "I haven't even seen the warrant yet. We have got 10 days to do this and a lot of complex schedules to organise."

Security review

Meanwhile, Downing Street issued strong criticism of Wikileaks for publishing secret diplomatic cables identifying important facilities.

The cables include sites and factories in Britain which the US says are vital to its security.

Security officials say the sites could now become terrorist targets and Foreign Secretary William Hague says the release of the information could have put lives at risk.

The list includes pipelines, communication and transport hubs.

Several UK sites are listed, from Cornwall to Scotland, including key satellite communications sites and the places where transatlantic cables make landfall.

A number of BAE Systems plants involved in joint weapons programmes with the Americans are listed, along with a marine engineering firm in Edinburgh which is said to be "critical" for nuclear-powered submarines.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Theresa May has said all government departments have been told to carry out a security review following the publication of the secret US diplomatic cables on the Wikileaks website.

She told MPs that the prime minister's security adviser, Sir Peter Ricketts, had written "to all departments to ask them to look again at their information security and to provide him with an assurance about the level of that information security".

The Swiss post office bank, PostFinance, has also frozen Mr Assange's bank accounts.

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Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Was Basically

Surprisingly, I didn’t see The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show when it aired last week. I know, usually I’m on top of my half naked models prancing to Katy Perry events. I don’t know, I guess I was busy not feeling bad about myself. So thank goodness NY Mag put together the minute and a half version of the event.

GAH. We all remember the fashion show that Christina Applegate puts on at the end of Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, yes? It’s here if you want to bone up. I think the designers at Victoria’s Secret, if one were to ask them, would cite that as their main influence for this, the ugliest collection of outfits I have ever seen. Lacrosse??? A giant soccer ball shrug?? WTF, Vicky’s? I know you flaunt your trashy side proudly, but this is beyond. As long as you were going balls out (tranny model next year maybe?), you should have hired the hot dog truck and called it a day, at least to ground this disconnected circus in some actual reference. There are some obvious differences between the two shows, for one, the Victoria’s Secret Show did not take place in Sue Ellen’s backyard and Sue Ellen did not feature a cadre of male dancers/gymnasts. But I feel as though they share the same soul, just with different budgets.

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Swiss cut off bank account for WikiLeaks' Assange

The Swiss postal system stripped WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of a key fundraising tool Monday, accusing him of lying and immediately shutting down one of his bank accounts.

The swift action by Postfinance, the financial arm of Swiss Post, came after it determined the "Australian citizen provided false information regarding his place of residence during the account opening process."

Assange had told Postfinance he lived in Geneva but could offer no proof that he was a Swiss resident, a requirement of opening such an account.

Postfinance spokesman Alex Josty told The Associated Press the account was closed Monday afternoon and there would be "no criminal consequences" for misleading authorities.

"That's his money, he will get his money back," Josty said. "We just close the account and that's it."

The setback leaves Assange with only a few options for raising money for his secret-spilling site through a Swiss-Icelandic credit card processing center and accounts in Iceland and Germany.

WikiLeaks has been under intense international scrutiny over its disclosure of a mountain of classified U.S. diplomatic cables, after previously releasing tens of thousands of classified U.S. military documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The unprecedented disclosures have embarrassed the U.S. and other governments worldwide and prompted U.S. officials to pressure the WikiLeaks site and its facilitators.

A Swiss website, wikileaks.ch, has been handling much of the traffic from WikiLeaks after other Internet service and online payment providers began severing ties with the organization.

WikiLeaks' Swedish servers came under suspected attack again Monday, the latest in a series of online computer assaults that have knocked the secret-spilling group across the Web.

WikiLeaks, in a tweet to its followers, confirmed it was having difficulty with its PRQ severs but did not elaborate.

"We are investigating the cause," it said.

While U.S. officials are investigating whether they can charge Assange, the 39-year-old Australian faces sexual misconduct allegations connected to his stay in Sweden over the summer.

The Swedish case has been described by his British lawyer Mark Stephens as a political stunt, but it could eventually lead to his extradition from Britain to Sweden. A European arrest warrant was issued for Assange last week and it is currently working its way through the British legal system.

Extradition experts say such warrants can take weeks or even months to lead to an arrest, although high profile cases tend to move faster. The BBC said the Swedish warrant was now with London's Scotland Yard — suggesting that matters were developing quickly.

The broadcaster didn't cite its source, and the police force declined comment.

Scotland Yard would still have to seek a warrant at Westminster and City Magistrates' Court, which handles extradition, before Assange were detained. Such a move would not be announced ahead of time.

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Willow Smith rocks the holidays, bad news about Botox, and the Kennedy Center Honors displays diverse styles

Willow Smith is scheduled to whip her hair on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" show. The girl-of-a-thousand-hair-styles showed off another one Saturday when she performed at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at L.A. Live, wearing braids that looked like candy canes. [People] 

-- The red carpet was rolled out in Washington Sunday night for the Kennedy Center Honors[Huffington Post]   and there was a true diversity of looks. Michelle Obama was sophisticated in a figure-huggging gown that showed off those toned arms. Sheryl Crow channeled her inner goddess in a flowing cream dress cinched at the waist. Nancy Shevell, the date of honoree Paul McCartney, was edgy in a short green-and-black dress with sheer paneled hem, while honoree Oprah Winfrey was elegant in a sweeping black skirt and low-cut white blouse. But what was Kid Rock thinking, in shirtsleeves, a hat and some kind of furry vest?

-- While celebrities can burn out as fast as a shooting star in the worlds of fashion and beauty, Jessica Simpson is showing some staying power and is on track to becoming a billion-dollar fashion powerhouse. [WWD] (subscription required) 

-- We wonder if Angelina Jolie will be as successful? She's entered into a new jewelry collaboration. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

-- Canadian researchers have done a study that shows that Botox injections can cause muscle to waste away to fat, both at the injection site and in other parts of the body ... in rabbits, at least. The researchers, from the University of Calgary, warn that their findings "raise important questions" about the long-term use of the popular cosmetic treatment. The study results were published in the Journal of Biomechanics.  [Daily Mail]

-- The British Fashion Council plans to honor the late Alexander McQueen with a posthumous award for outstanding achievement in fashion. [WWD] (subscription required) 

-- Belgian model Tanga Moreau, who in the late 1990s appeared in Vogue Paris and Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue (among others), is returning to modeling after a 10-year absence. [Telegraph] 

-- Jezebel has unearthed a 1988 music video featuring designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, a number of gender-bending male and female models, a cone bra and dancing scissors. Kind of a precursor to some of the videos design houses have been using the last couple of years.

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The New Hot Wheels

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters-Landov

The Most Fuel Efficient Cars - 2010

The electric car has traveled a long and bumpy road. Remember the EV1, which General Motors rolled out in the mid-’90s and literally scrapped a few years later? Well, the electric car has been resuscitated—and is here to stay. You can thank Uncle Sam for that: the government mandated that carmakers cut tailpipe emissions by 5 percent each year from 2012 to 2016, and boost fuel economy fleetwide by an average of seven miles per gallon. In other words, auto companies can’t wiggle out of it this time.

And so, this month early adopters will begin plugging in a new generation of electric wheels and thumbing their noses as they zoom by the corner gas station. These babies aren’t just for vegans who compost and watch reruns of An Inconvenient Truth. Anyone who grumbles at $3.25-a-gallon gas will be impressed by the fuel cost: as little as $1.50 to $2.75 to fully juice up an electric car, depending on the size of the battery. You may still have to pay at the pump: some electrics are hybrids that switch to gasoline once the battery runs low. But for most city driving, you can get around on a single charge. You’ll also need to install a dedicated 240-volt charger in your garage, which can cost a couple of thousand bucks. (The one exception is the Chevy Volt, which plugs into a simple 120-volt outlet but requires 10 hours to fully charge.) Because electric cars aren’t for everyone, automakers are offering a dizzying array of other ecofriendly cars that don’t run on electricity but still give great gas mileage and green cred. There are clean diesel-powered vehicles that have nothing in common with the smoke-belching monsters of the ’70s. And almost every car company has come out with its own hybrid to give the Toyota Prius a run for its money. In fact, there are so many green choices for 2011, it’s hard to figure out which way to turn. To help you navigate the terrain, we’ve picked the top performers in each category.”

Courtesy of Nissan

Plug-Ins

Nissan Leaf
This fully electric plug-in would be right at home in the Jetsons' garage. It charges completely in seven hours with a 240-volt connection. And it's seriously cool inside, with animated displays and fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles. A $349 monthly lease makes the car's $25,780 price (after a $7,500 federal tax credit) competitive with non-electrics.

Courtesy of General Motors

Chevy Volt
Worried you'll run out of juice in the middle of the expressway? Then choose the Volt, which pairs a 40-mile electric motor with a gas engine. Named Motor Trend Car of the Year, it's spunky and powers up on a standard 120-volt outlet. The lease is a steal at $2,500 down and $350 a month for 36 months, with a retail price of $33,500 after the federal tax credit.

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters-Landov

Honda Fit EV
The all-electric version of Honda's sporty Fit isn't available until 2012, but it promises to be a formidable competitor to the Nissan Leaf, with a 100-mile-range motor, seating for five, and a spacious hatchback. Using technology from Honda's CR-Z sport hybrid, the motor can operate in econ, normal, or sport mode to either maximize energy efficiency or boost power.

Courtesy of Toyota

Hybrids

Toyota Prius
Still the mack daddy, the Prius remains the fuel-economy leader for gas hybrids, with 51mpg city, 48mpg highway. And given there's so much competition in the hybrid market, drivers no longer have to pay a premium: you can get into one for $23,050. A hybrid plug-in version will arrive in two years, but will its 13-mile electric range be too little, too late?

Craig Ruttle / Bloomberg-Getty Images

Ford Fusion
This hybrid offers generous mileage--41mpg city, 36mpg highway--coupled with all-wheel drive, midsize roominess, and interior creature comforts. Seats are made of 85 percent recycled materials. Unlike some other hybrids that operate on electric at parking-lot speeds, the Fusion is capable of maintaining 47mph powered solely by the electric motor.

Courtesy of Volkswagen

Volkswagen Touareg
Even tree-huggers like to haul boats and trailers from time to time. But the gas required can be guilt-inducing. What's a recreation lover to do? If you have $60,565 lying around, the Touareg may be your answer. It's heavy-duty but swanky, with 18-inch wheels, a rearview camera, and bi-xenon headlights, and it uses about 4mpg less fuel than its gas equivalent.

Diesels

Courtesy of Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf TDI
This hatch turbo is hot with 20- and 30-somethings. It looks slick, is small enough to park in tight city spaces, and offers sporty Teutonic handling for a $23,435 price that's lower than other German brands. It's powered by a fuel--efficient 2.0-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine that gets 30mpg city, 42mpg highway. It's an excellent choice for drivers who have to endure a long daily commute but want a sports-car feel.

Courtesy of Audi

Audi A3 TDI
Using the same platform and engine as the VW Golf (Audi is VW's luxury brand), this car gets equally impressive mileage, but comes with posh upgrades like standard leather seating for just $30,250. If the A3 is too small for you, wait for Audi's hybrid versions of its midsize A6, full-size A8, and Q5 SUV in 2011 and 2012. Audi will also release a plug-in hybrid in 2014.

Courtesy of BMW

BMW 3 Series
We've ranked the 335d third only because it's pricey: $44,150. This diesel gets 36mpg highway and about 580 miles to the tankload. And with an in-line six-cylinder, 265hp engine that produces a massive 425 foot-pounds of torque, power is at the ready. Stay tuned for next summer's release of an all-electric 1 Series, a sprightly four-seat sport coupe with a 100-mile range.

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Expiring jobless benefits in depressed economy a recipe for disaster

Holland, MI —

Neisha understands where people are coming from when they say people abuse unemployment benefits.

But for her, that’s simply not the case.

After getting laid off at a retail store in June 2009, she went back to school for a dental assistant certificate.

She knows jobs are out there, but plenty of dental assistants are, too.

“Honestly, it’s really hard to find anything comparable to what you had before, especially when you’ve been out of work for a year,” said Neisha, who uses the Michigan Works office in Holland. She did not want her last name used.

Unless Congress votes to retroactively extend federal unemployment benefits, Neisha will get her last check in January.

She’s not alone. In fact, 11 percent of all Ottawa and Allegan county residents are currently receiving some level of unemployment benefits, according to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. That’s down from 15.5 percent in October 2009.

Although the number of people receiving unemployment has decreased by 15,618 in the past year, the number of workers nearing the end of their 99 weeks of benefits actually has grown.

Those within the last 20 weeks of the 99-week benefits cycle have gone from 5,426 in 2009 to 6,649 this fall in Ottawa and Allegan counties.

Congress, meanwhile, has not extended unemployment. Some lawmakers say they won’t approve more unemployment extensions unless there’s a way to pay for them.

Expiring benefits in a down economy are a recipe for disaster, according to the Michigan League for Human Services, because people on unemployment nearly always put their checks directly toward basic needs like food and transportation.

“It’s going to have a huge impact on our local economies,” said Judy Putnam, spokeswoman for MLHS. “Think about all these folks in your area that won’t be shopping at the stores.”

Job seekers, of course, need the economy to get better, not worse.

Jeff, for example, has degrees in horticulture, vegetable crop production and genetics.

Although he loves working with plants, this 59-year-old former University of Arkansas professor has been flipping burgers at a Holland McDonald’s for the last three years.

He grew tomatoes for seed production without luck this summer. And his job search seems to lead from one dead end to another.

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'Carmel fire in most stable state since blaze broke out'

Firefighter spokesman says fire will take days to put out; int'l aircraft resume operations to put out flames; 5 million trees destroyed.

  The Carmel Mountain Range blaze was under better control on Sunday morning, Fire Chief Shimon Romah told Army Radio. While saying that this was the best state the fire-fighting teams had found themselves in since the blaze began on Thursday, he added that only cautious optimism should be exercised as fires still raged.

In a statement on Sunday morning, Boaz Rakia, spokesperson for the firefighters, said that although there was a hope that the fires would be under control by Sunday night, it would still be a number of days before all the fires were put out. The Carmel blaze has scorched over 12,000 acres (50,000 dunams), killed 41 people and injured scores.

More than thirty fire-fighting aircraft resumed operations early on Sunday morning, and prepared to drop fire-fighting materials and water on the four remaining areas of fire in Israel's North.  Among the aircraft was the Evergreen Supertanker aircraft that landed in Israel overnight, expected to take flight around lunchtime. The privately owned US Boeing 747, the largest fire-fighting aircraft in the world – landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport and was set to make its first flight over the fire at around 6 a.m, a senior IAF officer said. The plane can carry 80 tons of water and fire retardant.

On Saturday night, the Israel police predicted that the fire, the worst in the country’s history, would hopefully be brought under control if not completely doused by the end of Sunday.

The expectation was that the blaze, which has ravaged 50,000 dunams (12,500 acres) in and around the Carmel Mountain Range and killed 41 Israelis, would be largely defeated with the arrival of the last of 33 aircraft dispatched to the emergency effort by countries from around the world.

“Our assessment is that we will be able to put out the worst of the fire by Sunday afternoon with 33 planes that will be here from around the world,” the IAF officer said, although emergency personnel have cautioned that new fires may continue to emerge over the coming few days.

As the sun set on Saturday evening over the scarred and still burning Carmel mountains, police and firefighters took cautious satisfaction in significant progress that had been made after some 60 hours of relentless battle against the monstrous inferno.

But with fire-fighting planes unable to fly at night, new blazes continued to erupt into the night. Forces took up defensive positions around Haifa, Usfiya and other communities, while hoping that the nocturnal winds would not undo all of their hard work.

Several key developments took place over the weekend. All 41 casualties of the fire were identified by forensic officers at the L. Greenberg Institute for Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, and a series of funerals were held. More will take place on Sunday.

The majority of the dead were Israel Prisons Service staff who were burned alive in their bus near Beit Oren on Thursday.

The dead also included two policemen who had tried to assist the bus passengers, named as Ch.-Supt. Yitzhak Melina, 46, and the Northern District’s Operations Branch manager Dep.-Cmdr. Lior Boker, 57. He was posthumously promoted to Asst.- Cmdr by Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen.

The body of Elad Riven, 16, of Haifa, who was a volunteer in the Fire Service and had rushed to assist at the scene of the tragedy, was also identified. Haifa police chief Dep.- Cmdr. Ahuva Tomer remained in critical condition at the Rambam Medical Center.

Police arrested two brothers from Usfiya, aged 14 and 16, suspected of having started the blaze by failing to douse a bonfire around which they had been playing and smoking on Thursday morning. The pair are suspected of negligence rather than deliberate arson. Arson is suspected at several other points where fires have erupted since the initial blaze took hold.

By Saturday night, more than 17,000 people had been evacuated from 15 communities, and five million trees had been destroyed, police said.

A fleet of international assistance aircraft from Russia, Greece, France, Bulgaria, Britain, Italy and Turkey flew sortie after sortie over the flames, dropping large quantities of water and fire retardants, before returning for more runs. On the ground, besieged firefighters managed to beat the fires back from Nir Etzion, Ein Hod, Haifa’s Denya neighborhood, and the Tirat Hacarmel-Atlit area.

The progress soon found expression in a police directive allowing residents of Kfar Galim, Kibbutz Hahotrim, Moshav Magdim, Denya and Tirat Hacarmel to return to their homes. Ein Hod, Nir Etzion, Ein Chud, and Yemin Orde remained off limits though.

Police also reopened Route 4 to traffic in both directions. Some homes in Ein Hod and Nir Ezion were savaged by the fires, while other evacuees returned to homes that were left unscathed.

Soon after nightfall Saturday, firefighters spokesman Boaz Arkia told The Jerusalem Post that the fire remained active in the eastern section of the mountain ridge, around Usfiya, Daliat al- Carmel, Beit Oren and a wildlife reserve.

“We are now focused on defending the communities here. Tonight is very problematic for us because the winds are changing direction and will become stronger. We must wait until morning to reassess the situation,” Arkia said. “We hope to get real control in the next 48 hours,” he added.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s lease of the Evergreen supertanker – the only fire-fighting plane capable of operating during nighttime – could just break the balance in favor of the firefighters when it arrives, Arkia said.

“We can see the fires rage at night in real time, but now we can’t do anything about it. When this plane comes into service, things will change.”

Arkia said fire crews remained dedicated and enjoyed high morale despite severe exhaustion.

“We’re working in shifts to allow them some respite – they are, after all human beings. But we are fully committed. “We don’t break so easily,” he said.

The IDF increased its involvement over the weekend, coordinating the arrival of dozens of foreign airplanes and helicopters.

Starting Friday morning, the air force began receiving the foreign aerial support that had been sent to Israel and dispatched air traffic control officers to the command center set up at Haifa University to coordinate relief efforts.

The IAF is expecting additional aircraft from Switzerland, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Azerbaijan and Romania.

“The IDF is concentrating its efforts with the other fire-fighting forces,” Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said on Saturday.

“Today, we are all firefighters,” he added.

Firefighters from Bulgaria were sent to the Home Front Command’s training base, from which they will depart for specific missions. The Association for the Well-Being of Israel’s Soldiers opened its vacation village in Givat Olga to other volunteers who had come from overseas to assist in efforts to put out the Carmel fire.

On Friday night, shortly after midnight, four Border Policemen were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, but were said to be in good condition. The officers were encircled by flames as they accompanied three fire trucks near Ein Hod. The beleaguered forces were led to safety by a police helicopter flying overhead.

Throughout the day on Friday, fires threatened Usfiya, Bet Oren and Nir Etzion before being beaten back. Police expressed exasperation after members of the public ignored directives and returned to their homes after being evacuated – forcing officers to return and evacuate them once more, using force, and sometimes handcuffing the residents to lead them away in Beit Oren and Denya.

A stream of onlookers also created a dangerous nuisance for police, interfering with the work of emergency services and endangering traffic on Route 4, where several drivers pulled over to watch and photograph the flames above.

In Atlit, residents were told on Friday to close their windows and turn on their air conditioners to avoid smoke inhalation. The fires threatened to engulf the Ya’arot Hacarmel hotel in the mountain ridge, though the structure emerged largely unharmed.

Meanwhile, as criticism mounted at the poor state of the Fire Service following years of neglect, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch hinted that the service would soon come under the auspices of his ministry in a centralized manner.

“The fire service will not continue in its present form, and will be revised,” a ministry statement said. “In recent weeks...the minister examined plans to bring the service under his authority, though it is too soon to discuss this now. The issue will be examined when the fires are out.”

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss told State Control Committee chairman Yoel Hasson that he intends to submit to the committee a report on the condition of Israel’s fire-fighting capabilities and the performance of government ministries regarding the subject.

According to a statement issued Saturday evening by Hasson’s spokesman, the MK would then be able, based on Lindenstrauss’s report, to implement a clause in the State Comptroller Law that allows him to independently appoint a State Commission of Inquiry to examine the government’s performance regarding the Fire and Rescue Service.

All Rights Reserved For Live With News                2010

A senior officer from the Home Front Command said that the IDF and Defense Ministry had been aware “for years” of the deficiencies in Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service.

According to the officer, the shortages in the fire service’s resources were apparent during the nationwide civil defense exercises – called Turning Point – that Israel has held annually since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

“The fact that there are problems with the fire service is not new and needs to be dealt with,” the officer said.

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Chromebook: Coming Next Week?

By now you've probably heard that Google is hosting a Chrome event on Dec. 7 in San Francisco. The press invite promised "exciting news about Chrome." Does that mean the Chromebook is finally upon us?

Maybe and maybe not.

The rumor mill has been churning for months.

Most recently, Digitimes, a Taiwanese Website, reported that smartbooks featuring Chrome operating system would debut this month. Back in August, a newly released beta of Chome 6 hinted at a tablet possibility. Menus were optimized for touch and reports said we might see a Chrome tablet in November.

Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, blasted both rumors. He told reporters at the Web 2.0 summit that Chrome is designed for devices with a physical keyboard and won't be available for a few months.

Tuesday's event might be the halfway point between Schmidt's comment and a public release of the device.

Engadget seems to think all signs point to a launch of the Chrome netbook on Tuesday, but is saying only around 65,000 units will be available "to Google's closest 'friends and family'." Engadget also got its mitts on a supposed image of the Chrome netbook keyboard on Friday. The tech blog does note that the keyboard looks pretty darn similar to the configuration of an earlier Acer Chrome netbook.

Whether this is an photo of an actual Google-branded device is up in the air, but it is interesting to note a few Web-related features. The caps lock key is switched out for a search button, the shift key has a caps indicator light and a few navigating function keys are positioned above the number row.

One thing is for sure, the clock is working against Google on this one.

Google first announced Chrome OS in 2009. The operating system was designed to be fast, web-focused, have a quick-start up time and run on devices with solid-state drives. Oh yeah, and Google even plans a Web store for Chrome apps. Back then, Google said that its partners, including ASUS, HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba, would have netbooks released in time for the holidays this year.

Netbooks were all the rage in 2009, but that isn't really the case in 2010. The iPad and other tablets have shown up on the scene and are destroying netbook sales. Google would be smart to hedge its bets, and make its beta OS a little more future-proof.

When Google announced Chrome in a blog post, it said:

"Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the Web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems."

Do we really need Chrome OS for netbooks/desktops and Android for our portable devices? Why does it matter how people plan to use their device? Sounds like a recipe to further the fragmentation problem facing Big G's fan base.

Speed and ease of use are always king. If Google has a few tricks up its sleeve for Web browsing on Chrome, why not roll them into one future OS -- say that ‘Gingerbread' deal I've been hearing so much about.

Give us what Apple and Microsoft haven't: one operating system that can work with or without a keyboard and on a wide variety of devices. Then you'll be set for life.

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America's Next Top Model crowns deserving winner in high fashion cycle 15

I really enjoyed the 15th cycle of America's Next Top Model, which went high fashion for the first time.

Ann was a favourite from early on because of her ability to take amazing photos and her humble attitude, but I didn't like Chelsey all that much until the finale. She is a beautiful model, but I found her to be a little off-putting. In the finale I came to appreciate her drive to succeed.

After losing to Ann, Chelsey commented on how she didn't think the winner had what it takes to be America's Next Top Model. But what she's missing is that Ann was high fashion and that's exactly what the judges were looking for. Not that Chelsey wasn't wasn't a great model — she probably could have won any other season.

Both Ann and Chelsey deserved to be in the top 2 and I really hope we see more of them in fashion ads or runway shows on TV. This season seemed a little less exciting than others but the concept was a welcome change.

There is a bit of controversy surrounding Ann's weight. This is a tough one because as an adult, I realize very few people in the world look the way some of these models look. It's not the norm. But I can see how young girls may not understand this and hurt themselves to try and look like someone they are not.

I have looked for information on when we might see the next Canadian version of the show, but sadly the only news I could find said there was no news for a possible Season 4.

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So How Would You Kick-Start the Economy?

The Associated Press asked people around the country to share their ideas on jump-starting the economy. Some responses:

More stimulus: Carolyn Morrison is a Wake County, N.C., school board member who has spent more than 45 years in education. The public school she attended as a child in Lumberton, N.C., was built by President Franklin Roosevelt's Depression-era Works Progress Administration. She wants more spending like that.

"Thinking back to Roosevelt and other presidents who faced this problem, I guess the stimulus package would be the closest to giving jobs as anything."

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Amen to that: John Jennings, 56, of Charlotte, N.C., runs a nonprofit group that houses up to 18 ex-convicts re-entering society. He, too, wants another stimulus package.

"I understand the deficit, and I know we're trillions of dollars in debt and all that. But I feel like the only way we're going be able to come out of this is to invest into it."

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Fairer pay: Jermaine Wilkinson, 32, of Mauldin, S.C., is an operations engineer at Lockheed Martin in Greenville, S.C., where the company refurbishes Navy aircraft. He says the government should make companies narrow the gap between pay for CEOs and average workers.

"Companies are saving money, but the money they're saving is going into the CEO's pocket or the upper management, board of directors, those type of people. If you start putting those savings into the ones who are actually doing the work. ... I believe they'll go out and spend money. They won't be hesitant."

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Renew infrastructure: Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, says infrastructure projects make the U.S. more competitive in the future and create jobs now. He points to the aging Lincoln and Holland traffic tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey as examples of needed renewal.

"We're living off our grandfathers' investments. The whole issue of neglect of infrastructure is a serious problem. It's not limited to transportation."
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Keep jobs here: If there's any doubt autoworking is in his blood, the proof is in his name. Henry Ford Anderson, 62, is a retired auto industry worker — for Chrysler — who commented from a dog-racing track in Wheeling, W.Va. He wants the government to control outsourcing.
"We can always create jobs. Technical jobs are created every day, but where do they go when you create them? We have to bring them back. The president has to tell all of the Fortune 500 to stop holding the economy down. Just look at how they are getting rich. He has to clamp down on them, but he's in a no-win situation because all they will do is take the jobs to another country."
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Going global: Paul Hanrahan, chairman of AES Corp., a power company based in Arlington, Va., with operations in 30 countries and 40 percent of its revenue from the U.S., says international business is key to U.S. growth.
"The way we create jobs is by taking advantage of expanding markets. Where we expand into a new market, there are jobs created in the U.S. I think we need to keep that in mind, that investment overseas is also something that benefits U.S. companies."
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Tax holiday: Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, says that if the economy looked like it was going to slip into another recession, Congress should exempt employers from the payroll tax for three months, among other steps. Small businesses are usually the engine of hiring during recoveries but not, so far, this time. A tax holiday would temporarily lower the cost of hiring and serve as an incentive to companies of all size, he says.
"Hopefully, that would convince people to get off the dime and hire people and get the recovery moving," Zandi said. "The key impediment to the economy is businesses' reluctance to hire."
Tax cuts: Brian Bethune, economist at IHS Global Insight, proposes extending the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone, making them permanent for people of lower and middle income and phasing them out for the wealthy after a year or two. Like Zandi, he thinks the recovery is too fragile now to let taxes go up on anyone. Not that tax cuts would solve everything.
"There is no big silver bullet."
A compromise has been slowly taking shape in Washington that would extend the tax cuts temporarily for all income groups, perhaps for three years.
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Amen to tax cuts: Fabrizio Santoro, 37, a real estate investor from Miami Beach, Fla., said lower capital gains and other taxes are the way to spur employment and growth. "The only way to kick-start the economy is through businesses. And you've got to entice businessmen to do business. It all comes down to taxes."
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Stay on course: Ann Fields, 48, of Dallas, writes novels, magazine articles and freelance pieces, and founded a group for African-American writers. Self-employed, she counsels patience.
"I don't think people realize how close we came to a depression. I think the steps the president and Congress took averted that. I'm willing to be patient. I know change doesn't happen overnight. As long as they provide the small business support they've been talking about recently, I'm good."
She added, chuckling, I won't move to Canada."
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Contributing to this report were AP writers Jeannine Aversa and Joan Lowy in Washington; Linda Stewart Ball in Dallas; Emery P. Dalesio in Raleigh, N.C.; Ben Dobbin in Rochester, N.Y.; Matt Sedensky in Miami; Erica Werner in Mumbai, India; and Corey Williams in Detroit.

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