MPs in minority women job warning

2 December 2012 Last updated at 02:29 ET

Black and minority ethnic women face “catastrophic” levels of unemployment and are discriminated against at “every stage” of the recruitment process, a group of MPs has warned.

The BBC has seen a report from the all-party parliamentary group on race and community which says racial bias holds some women back from getting a job.

Labour MP David Lammy, the committee’s chairman, says the situation is “deeply worrying”.

The report will be published on Friday.

The inquiry examined written and verbal evidence through the summer.

Despite latest official figures showing, nationally, unemployment has continued to fall, the report says racial bias is holding some women back from getting a job.

One woman said she changed her Muslim-sounding name after using a different one secured her more job interviews.

And a black African woman said she was overlooked for a law-based job in favour of two less qualified white women, but then offered the job when the women were sacked for incompetence.

Mr Lammy said: “There have been a lot of cuts to the public sector. Black and minority ethnic women have been traditionally employed in the public sector and are losing their jobs in droves at this time.

“They complain of struggling with no support around child care and around helping them to stay in work. Many are doing just casual employment, so the picture is bleak and depressing.”

BBC News – Business

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Egypt’s Mursi calls referendum as Islamists march

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt‘s President Mohamed Mursi called a December 15 referendum on a draft constitution on Saturday as at least 200,000 Islamists demonstrated in Cairo to back him after opposition fury over his newly expanded powers.

Speaking after receiving the final draft of the constitution from the Islamist-dominated assembly, Mursi urged a national dialogue as the country nears the end of the transition from Hosni Mubarak‘s rule.

“I renew my call for opening a serious national dialogue over the concerns of the nation, with all honesty and impartiality, to end the transitional period as soon as possible, in a way that guarantees the newly-born democracy,” Mursi said.

Mursi plunged Egypt into a new crisis last week when he gave himself extensive powers and put his decisions beyond judicial challenge, saying this was a temporary measure to speed Egypt’s democratic transition until the new constitution is in place.

His assertion of authority in a decree issued on November 22, a day after he won world praise for brokering a Gaza truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, dismayed his opponents and widened divisions among Egypt’s 83 million people.

Two people have been killed and hundreds wounded in protests by disparate opposition forces drawn together and re-energized by a decree they see as a dictatorial power grab.

A demonstration in Cairo to back the president swelled through the afternoon, peaking in the early evening at least 200,000, said Reuters witnesses, basing their estimates on previous rallies in the capital. The authorities declined to give an estimate for the crowd size.

“The people want the implementation of God’s law,” chanted flag-waving demonstrators, many of them bussed in from the countryside, who choked streets leading to Cairo University, where Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood had called the protest.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians had protested against Mursi on Friday. “The people want to bring down the regime,” they chanted in Cairo‘s Tahrir Square, echoing the trademark slogan of the revolts against Hosni Mubarak and Arab leaders elsewhere.

Rival demonstrators threw stones after dark in the northern city of Alexandria and a town in the Nile Delta. Similar clashes erupted again briefly in Alexandria on Saturday, state TV said.

“COMPLETE DEFEAT”

Mohamed Noshi, 23, a pharmacist from Mansoura, north of Cairo, said he had joined the rally in Cairo to support Mursi and his decree. “Those in Tahrir don’t represent everyone. Most people support Mursi and aren’t against the decree,” he said.

Mohamed Ibrahim, a hardline Salafi Islamist scholar and a member of the constituent assembly, said secular-minded Egyptians had been in a losing battle from the start.

“They will be sure of complete popular defeat today in a mass Egyptian protest that says ‘no to the conspiratorial minority, no to destructive directions and yes for stability and sharia (Islamic law)’,” he told Reuters.

Mursi has alienated many of the judges who must supervise the referendum. His decree nullified the ability of the courts, many of them staffed by Mubarak-era appointees, to strike down his measures, although says he respects judicial independence.

A source at the presidency said Mursi might rely on the minority of judges who support him to supervise the vote.

“Oh Mursi, go ahead and cleanse the judiciary, we are behind you,” shouted Islamist demonstrators in Cairo.

Mursi, once a senior Muslim Brotherhood figure, has put his liberal, leftist, Christian and other opponents in a bind. If they boycott the referendum, the constitution would pass anyway.

If they secured a “no” vote to defeat the draft, the president could retain the powers he has unilaterally assumed.

And Egypt’s quest to replace the basic law that underpinned Mubarak’s 30 years of army-backed one-man rule would also return to square one, creating more uncertainty in a nation in dire economic straits and seeking a $ 4.8 billion loan from the IMF.

“NO PLACE FOR DICTATORSHIP”

Mursi’s well-organized Muslim Brotherhood and its ultra-orthodox Salafi allies, however, are convinced they can win the referendum by mobilizing their own supporters and the millions of Egyptians weary of political turmoil and disruption.

“There is no place for dictatorship,” the president said on Thursday while the constituent assembly was still voting on a draft constitution which Islamists say enshrines Egypt’s new freedoms.

Human rights groups have voiced misgivings, especially about articles related to women’s rights and freedom of speech.

The text limits the president to two four-year terms, requires him to secure parliamentary approval for his choice of prime minister, and introduces a degree of civilian oversight over the military – though not enough for critics.

The draft constitution also contains vague, Islamist-flavored language that its opponents say could be used to whittle away human rights and stifle criticism.

For example, it forbids blasphemy and “insults to any person”, does not explicitly uphold women’s rights and demands respect for “religion, traditions and family values”.

The draft injects new Islamic references into Egypt’s system of government but retains the previous constitution’s reference to “the principles of sharia” as the main source of legislation.

“We fundamentally reject the referendum and constituent assembly because the assembly does not represent all sections of society,” said Sayed el-Erian, 43, a protester in Tahrir and member of a party set up by opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei.

Several independent newspapers said they would not publish on Tuesday in protest. One of the papers also said three private satellite channels would halt broadcasts on Wednesday.

Egypt cannot hold a new parliamentary election until a new constitution is passed. The country has been without an elected legislature since the Supreme Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated lower house in June.

The court is due to meet on Sunday to discuss the legality of parliament’s upper house.

“We want stability. Every time, the constitutional court tears down institutions we elect,” said Yasser Taha, a 30-year-old demonstrator at the Islamist rally in Cairo.

(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad, Yasmine Saleh and Tom Perry; Editing by Myra MacDonald and Jason Webb)

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“Hobbit” may bring a Hollywood ending to 2012 box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – It took more than a decade, two directors and a lawsuit before “The Hobbit” made it to the big screen. Hollywood executives are crossing their fingers that the culmination of that journey will help smash movie box office records this year.

The film, which opens on December 14, is expected to contribute to the first annual box office increase in North America in three years, a sign that big movie studios have made more films enticing enough to get people into theaters and away from their TVs, games and the Internet.

“The Hobbit” follows this year’s other big box office successes “The Avengers,” which became the industry’s third-largest film with $ 623 million in U.S. sales, and “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hunger Games” which both passed $ 400 million.

Hollywood analysts predict the two months of the year that include “The Hobbit” and the finale of the “Twilight” vampire series may lift U.S. and Canadian ticket sales above the $ 10.6 billion record set in 2009.

“The fourth quarter is just gangbusters,” said box office watcher Phil Contrino, editor of the boxoffice.com website. “One movie after the other is exceeding expectations.”

Annual receipts are on track to end 5 percent above last year at $ 10.8 billion or more, projects Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. Ten films have already passed $ 200 million in ticket sales, compared to seven last year, when no film passed the $ 400 million mark.

That would be the first yearly box office increase in three years, and would be from a jump in admissions rather than a hike in ticket prices that traditionally fuel box office growth. Ticket prices are averaging $ 7.94, a penny increase from last year, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners.

Hollywood has raked in $ 9.7 billion so far in ticket sales and sold more than 1.2 billion tickets in the North American (U.S. and Canadian) market, 5.5 percent up on a year ago.

The industry thought it had a record in sight last year, only to see underwhelming performances from holiday releases such as thriller “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and animated movie “Hugo,” which left ticket sales at a three-year low.

OFF THE COUCH

Studios face a difficult entertainment landscape in which consumers have an array of competing outlets for movie watching that includes DVR recordings, game players and movies streamed over computers and mobile phones.

Services like Netflix Inc have also made a dent in trips to the theater by offering cheap monthly rentals that make it easier to stay on the couch.

What has got people out of their homes, Hollywood moguls say, is a rise in the quality and variety of what is on screen.

This year, studios offered up a rush of big-budget blockbusters including “Skyfall,” the highest grossing of the 23 James Bond films that is still selling well with $ 227 million in domestic sales.

“Ted,” about a foul-mouthed stuffed bear, was a surprise winner with $ 219 million. Several mid-sized hits that won critical acclaim, including Steven Spielberg’s historical drama “Lincoln” and the Iran hostage thriller “Argo,” became box office darlings.

“There is something for everyone,” said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution at News Corp’s 20th Century Fox studio. “When we achieve that as an industry and the movies are of good quality, that’s when good things happen.”

Sony oiled up its Spider-Man franchise and collected $ 262 million by rebooting it with new stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Disney’s Pixar unit struck it big again with the animated movie “Brave.”

Hollywood did not escape some box office bombs. Two big-budget bets – board-game inspired thriller “Battleship” and outer space adventure “John Carter” – ranked among the most costly flops in movie history.

The mass killing at a Colorado movie theater in July marred the release of Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises.” But the film eventually grossed $ 448 million domestically, ranking as the year’s second-biggest.

Hollywood also overcame summer doldrums. The season that accounts for the bulk of yearly sales slumped 5 percent behind 2011. The second weekend in September produced the lowest-grossing weekend since 2001.

The pace quickened at the start of the holidays – the second-biggest movie going period – with “Twilight” finale “Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ and James Bond movie “Skyfall” leading record Thanksgiving sales of $ 291 million over five days.

“FOUR QUADRANT” FILM

That has got the industry’s hopes up for the Christmas season when families gather and shoppers fill malls. Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures is releasing the musical adaptation “Les Miserables,” and The Weinstein Company offers up the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller “Django Unchained.” A street-brawling Tom Cruise returns in “Jack Reacher” from Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures.

But it is the dwarves and wizards from “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” that Hollywood is banking on to generate movie going mania. Set 60 years before the Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the movie is the kind that studios love – a “four quadrant” film that appeals to male, female, young and old, said Contrino of Boxoffice.com. He projects $ 137 million in opening weekend domestic sales, rising to $ 475 million through its theatrical run.

The film, based on the fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien about the travels of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, almost did not make it to the screen at all. Director Peter Jackson made the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy when producers could not get “The Hobbit” rights that were held by MGM’s United Artists unit.

“The Hobbit“, also a trilogy, has been produced by MGM and Time Warner Inc but only after Jackson settled a lawsuit against Time Warner’s New Line Cinema unit in a dispute over profits from the “Rings” trilogy.

Now all the film has to do is delight fans with a new hobbit adventure across Middle Earth and deliver a record year for Hollywood.

(Reporting By Lisa Richwine. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Asperger’s dropped from revised diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) — The now familiar term “Asperger‘s disorder” is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But “dyslexia” and other learning disorders remain.

The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation’s psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.

Full details of all the revisions will come next May when the American Psychiatric Association‘s new diagnostic manual is published, but the impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.

This diagnostic guide “defines what constellations of symptoms” doctors recognize as mental disorders, said Dr. Mark Olfson, a Columbia University psychiatry professor. More important, he said, it “shapes who will receive what treatment. Even seemingly subtle changes to the criteria can have substantial effects on patterns of care.”

Olfson was not involved in the revision process. The changes were approved Saturday in suburban Washington, D.C., by the psychiatric association’s board of trustees.

The aim is not to expand the number of people diagnosed with mental illness, but to ensure that affected children and adults are more accurately diagnosed so they can get the most appropriate treatment, said Dr. David Kupfer. He chaired the task force in charge of revising the manual and is a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

One of the most hotly argued changes was how to define the various ranges of autism. Some advocates opposed the idea of dropping the specific diagnosis for Asperger’s disorder. People with that disorder often have high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lack social skills. Some who have the condition embrace their quirkiness and vow to continue to use the label.

And some Asperger’s families opposed any change, fearing their kids would lose a diagnosis and no longer be eligible for special services.

But the revision will not affect their education services, experts say.

The new manual adds the term “autism spectrum disorder,” which already is used by many experts in the field. Asperger’s disorder will be dropped and incorporated under that umbrella diagnosis. The new category will include kids with severe autism, who often don’t talk or interact, as well as those with milder forms.

Kelli Gibson of Battle Creek, Mich., who has four sons with various forms of autism, said Saturday she welcomes the change. Her boys all had different labels in the old diagnostic manual, including a 14-year-old with Asperger’s.

“To give it separate names never made sense to me,” Gibson said. “To me, my children all had autism.”

Three of her boys receive special education services in public school; the fourth is enrolled in a school for disabled children. The new autism diagnosis won’t affect those services, Gibson said. She also has a 3-year-old daughter without autism.

People with dyslexia also were closely watching for the new updated doctors’ guide. Many with the reading disorder did not want their diagnosis to be dropped. And it won’t be. Instead, the new manual will have a broader learning disorder category to cover several conditions including dyslexia, which causes difficulty understanding letters and recognizing written words.

The trustees on Saturday made the final decision on what proposals made the cut; recommendations came from experts in several work groups assigned to evaluate different mental illnesses.

The revised guidebook “represents a significant step forward for the field. It will improve our ability to accurately diagnose psychiatric disorders,” Dr. David Fassler, the group’s treasurer and a University of Vermont psychiatry professor, said after the vote.

The shorthand name for the new edition, the organization’s fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, is DSM-5. Group leaders said specifics won’t be disclosed until the manual is published but they confirmed some changes. A 2000 edition of the manual made minor changes but the last major edition was published in 1994.

Olfson said the manual “seeks to capture the current state of knowledge of psychiatric disorders. Since 2000 … there have been important advances in our understanding of the nature of psychiatric disorders.”

Catherine Lord, an autism expert at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York who was on the psychiatric group’s autism task force, said anyone who met criteria for Asperger’s in the old manual would be included in the new diagnosis.

One reason for the change is that some states and school systems don’t provide services for children and adults with Asperger’s, or provide fewer services than those given an autism diagnosis, she said.

Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said small studies have suggested the new criteria will be effective. But she said it will be crucial to monitor so that children don’t lose services.

Other changes include:

—A new diagnosis for severe recurrent temper tantrums — disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Critics say it will medicalize kids’ who have normal tantrums. Supporters say it will address concerns about too many kids being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and treated with powerful psychiatric drugs. Bipolar disorder involves sharp mood swings and affected children are sometimes very irritable or have explosive tantrums.

—Eliminating the term “gender identity disorder.” It has been used for children or adults who strongly believe that they were born the wrong gender. But many activists believe the condition isn’t a disorder and say calling it one is stigmatizing. The term would be replaced with “gender dysphoria,” which means emotional distress over one’s gender. Supporters equated the change with removing homosexuality as a mental illness in the diagnostic manual, which happened decades ago.

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner .

Medications/Drugs News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Obama warns of Scrooge Christmas

30 November 2012 Last updated at 16:33 ET

US President Barack Obama has warned of a “Scrooge Christmas” if tax breaks are not renewed for working families in a deal to avert a so-called fiscal cliff.

Mr Obama made the remarks as he tried to win public support for his plan on a visit to a toy-maker in Pennsylvania.

But Republican House Speaker John Boehner said talks with the White House had gone “almost nowhere”.

He said President Obama’s plan to raise $ 1.6tn (£1tn) of revenue over 10 years was not a “serious proposal”.

Planned tax rises and spending cuts due to take effect on 1 January could send the US back into recession, economists warn.

‘Lump of coal’

On Friday, Mr Obama toured the Rodon Group manufacturing facility, where parts for the children’s toy K’nex are made.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

There’s a stalemate – let’s not kid ourselves”

End Quote John Boehner Speaker of the House

The Democratic president said it was the type of company that depended on middle-class customers to buy its goods, adding it would be hurt if ordinary Americans faced a tax rise.

In a speech at the factory, Mr Obama said both parties would have to “get out of our comfort zones” in order to negotiate a deal on the fiscal cliff, and pledged he would be willing to do the same.

He said that if Congress did not extend soon-to-expire tax breaks for the middle-class, it would be like receiving a “lump of coal” at Christmas.

“That’s a Scrooge Christmas,” Mr Obama added.

Tax cuts passed during the presidency of George W Bush are due to expire under the fiscal cliff.

Mr Obama favours extending the break for households earning below $ 250,000. But he wants taxes to rise for those on income above that sum.

Mr Boehner said that asking the top 2% of US taxpayers to pay more would deal a “crippling blow” to a fragile economy.

He also criticised as inadequate spending cuts that were proposed on Thursday by the Obama administration.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put forward a plan to congressional leaders that would raise $ 1.6 trillion in higher taxes over a decade.

Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

• Under a deal reached last year between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Congress, existing stimulus measures – mostly tax cuts – will expire on 1 January 2013


• Cuts to defence, education and other government spending will then automatically come into force – the “fiscal cliff” – unless Congress acts


• The economy does not have the momentum to absorb the shock from going over the fiscal cliff without going into recession

The proposal also envisages spending more money to help the unemployed and struggling homeowners.

And it called for savings of as much as $ 400bn from Medicare and other benefit programmes over 10 years.

Mr Boehner told reporters on Friday: “There’s a stalemate. Let’s not kid ourselves. Right now, we’re almost nowhere.”

Some Republicans have said they would consider increased tax revenue as part of a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

But the White House believes that simply ending tax deductions would not address the yawning budget deficit.

White House press secretary Jay Carney has indicated Mr Obama would not support any deal that did not increase tax rates on the wealthiest.

The fiscal cliff would suck about $ 600bn (£347bn) out of the economy.

The measures were partly put in place within a 2011 deal to curb the yawning US budget deficit.

BBC News – Business

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Oliver Stone, Benicio del Toro visit Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Benicio Del Toro didn’t wait long to collect on a favor that Oliver Stone owed him for working extra hours on the set of his most recent movie, “Savages”, released this year.

The favor? A trip to Del Toro‘s native Puerto Rico, which Stone hadn’t visited since the early 1960s.

“I told him, you owe me one,” Del Toro said with a smile as he recalled the conversation during a press conference Friday in the U.S. territory, where he and Stone are helping raise money for one of the island’s largest art museums.

Del Toro, wearing jeans, a black jacket and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the name of local reggaeton singer Tego Calderon, waved to the press as he was introduced.

“Hello, greetings. Is this a press conference?” he quipped as he and Stone awaited questions.

Both men praised each other’s work, saying they would like to work with each other again.

“I deeply admire him as an actor, the way he thinks, the way he expresses himself,” Stone said. “Of all the actors I’ve worked with, he’s the most interesting.”

Stone said Del Toro always delivers surprises while acting, even when it’s as something as subtle as certain gestures between dialogue.

“I think Benicio is the master of keeping you watching,” he said.

Stone said he enjoys meeting up with Del Toro off-set because he’s one of the few actors in Hollywood who can talk about something other than movies.

“He is very interested in the world around him,” Stone said, adding that the conversations sometimes center around politics and other topics.

Del Toro declined to answer when asked what he thought about Puerto Rico’s referendum earlier this month, which aimed to determine the future of the island’s political status. He said the results did not seem to point to a clear-cut outcome.

Del Toro then said he would like the island’s movie business to grow, especially in a way that would encourage learning.

“I’m talking about movies in an educational sense, as a way to discover other parts of the world,” he said. “Create a film class. You’ll see, kids won’t skip it.”

Del Toro also shared his thoughts on being a father after having a daughter with Kimberly Stewart in August 2011.

He said the girl is learning how to swim and is discovering the world around her.

“She has her own personality,” Del Toro said. “She’s not her mother. She’s not me.”

Both Del Toro and Stone are expected to remain in Puerto Rico through the weekend to raise money for the Art Museum of Puerto Rico, which is hosting its annual movie festival and will honor Stone’s movies.

Museum curator Juan Carlos Lopez Quintero said the money raised will be used to enhance the museum’s permanent collection, especially with Puerto Rican paintings from the 19th century and early 20th century.

Latin America News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Act of kindness turns New York cop into media darling

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. national media just got the perfect holiday gift: a feel-good tale about a young police officer who dug into his own pocket to put boots on a barefoot panhandler on a freezing city sidewalk.

Even better was the way the story of New York City Police Officer Larry DePrimo‘s kindness unfolded.

Thanks to a blurry Facebook photo snapped on a cell phone by a tourist who happened the incident in Times Square, DePrimo, 25, went from anonymous Good Samaritan to national media celebrity in less than 72 hours.

The photo of the officer crouching with the new pair of boots next to the bedraggled man was featured on the front pages of New York‘s two popular tabloids, the New York Post and the New York Daily News, on Friday. An article describing the good deed was the most viewed story of The New York Times’s website on Friday morning.

DePrimo told and retold the story of his labor of love in interviews Friday on a half dozen national TV morning shows, including NBC’s “Today” show, ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CBS’s “Morning Show,” CNN’s “Starting Point” and Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.”

“We’ve been speaking a lot the last couple of days about who should be the ‘Time’ person of the year — Time magazine. I’d like to nominate you,” “Fox & Friends” host Gretchen Carlson told DePrimo.

Little was known about the man to whom DePrimo gave the boots. He is said to be a veteran who was at one time homeless and was placed in veterans’ housing sometime in the past year, according to NBC 4 New York.

DePrimo’s story has been particularly appealing because most pictures and video civilians take of police officers expose cruelty, not generosity, said Roy Peter Clark, a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In contrast, “everything about this feels good and right and worthy,” Clark said, adding that the way the story came to the media’s attention contributed to its poignancy.

Squeezed into the spotlight was Jennifer Foster, the tourist who quietly snapped the photo of DePrimo that was posted to the New York Police Department’s Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon. She was flown to New York from Arizona for a Friday morning appearance on “Today” with DePrimo – meeting him for the first time.

“We decided that we were best friends now,” Foster said on the program.

Back in Times Square, television trucks and their crews swarmed the Skechers store where DePrimo bought the boots with the help of a worker who rang up the purchase with his employee discount. Even the small kindness of the discount triggered a wave of thank you calls and emails to the store, including from a retired detective from Arizona, said assistant manager Holli Barton.

(Reporting by Peter Rudegeair; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Leslie Adler)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Korean pop rides “Gangnam Style” into U.S. music scene

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Gangnam Style,” the catchy Korean song by rapper Psy, may have danced its way into the American charts but the Korean pop industry isn’t horsing around when it comes to capitalizing on the singer’s phenomenal U.S. success.

With “Gangnam Style” topping the current Billboard Digital Songs chart and becoming the most-watched video on YouTube ever with more than 800 million views, fellow Korean pop, or K-pop, artists are positioning themselves for similar U.S. breakthroughs.

Korea’s pop music industry is thriving. Over the past two years, a handful of K-pop acts including girl group 2NE1, boy band Super Junior and nine-piece band Girls Generation have embarked on mini-promotional tours around the United States to build their audience.

“Psy has opened doors and is shining a spotlight on K-pop. People are paying attention to what’s being done there,” Alina Moffat, general manager at YG Entertainment group, which manages Psy, told a recent entertainment industry conference in Los Angeles.

Psy’s vibrant music video, featuring his invisible pony-riding dance, also featured K-pop artists Kim Hyun-a of girl band 4Minute, and Deasung and Seungri of boy band Big Bang, all of whom are attempting to crack the U.S. market.

“YouTube has really changed the awareness of K-pop. Both American kids and second-generation Korean American kids are discovering it,” Kye Kyoungbon Koo, director of the Korea Creative Content Agency, told a panel at a Billboard and Hollywood Reporter conference in Los Angeles in October.

MARKETING THE NEXT BIG THING

For U.S. companies looking to invest, K-pop is being marketed as the next big thing, boasting young, stylish and influential artists who command devoted fan followings.

Moffat said car companies and mobile phone brands were among those being courted at KCON, a convention held in October in Irvine in Southern California that showcased K-pop artists.

“Kids are coming, they’re engaged, they want to spend money and sponsors saw that,” Moffat said.

Whether Psy or other K-pop artists can command a global following to rival Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or Rihanna remains to be seen, but John Shim, senior producer at MTV World, believes it is the right genre to compete with pop music’s biggest names.

“K-pop admittedly is a very niche genre but I also think it’s the best equipped of Asian pop to cater to the U.S. audience,” Shim told Reuters.

Psy has helped to break down language barriers, keeping “Gangnam Style” in its original Korean form instead of adapting it to English when it became an international hit.

The singer told Reuters he was persuaded to keep it that way by his manager Scooter Braun, the talent scout responsible for Justin Bieber’s success, who signed Psy to his record label.

“I thought, ‘Should I translate this or not?’ because (the fans) have got to know what I’m talking about, and lyrics are a huge part,” Psy said.

CHATTING IN ENGLISH

But industry executives say at least one member of each K-Pop group is usually taught to be fluent in conversational English.

“The investment in language is costly, but effective,” said Ted Kim, president of South Korean music television channel Mnet. “It really matters that Psy can go on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show and have a conversation.”

Psy said he was proud his song succeeded in Korean, but he now wants to branch out into English.

“‘Gangnam Style’ is not the sort of thing that’s going to happen twice. I’ve definitely got to make something in English so I can communicate with my fans right now,” the singer said.

In Korea, bands such as SM Entertainment’s Super Junior and Girls Generation have became branding powerhouses, scoring endorsements ranging from cosmetics, fashion, video games, electronics and beverages.

In the United States, companies such as Samsung have already jumped on the K-pop train, sponsoring Korean boy band Big Bang’s U.S. tour.

But while the genre is gaining steam in the charts, it has yet to spill into ticket sales for tours, according to Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief at Pollstar.com, which tracks concert sales.

“Psy may be able to sell out arenas in Asia, but not yet here. For the American audience, he has to prove that he’s more than a novelty act,” Bongiovanni said.

“K-pop has to prove itself before large companies spend money on it,” he added.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Obama cranks up “fiscal cliff” pressure, Boehner says talks stalemated

HATFIELD, Penn. (Reuters) – President Barack Obama turned up the pressure in “fiscal cliff” talks on Friday, hitting the road to drum up support for his drive to raise taxes on the wealthy and warning Americans that Republicans were offering them “a lump of coal” for Christmas.

In a visit to a Pennsylvania toy factory, Obama portrayed congressional Republicans as Scrooges who risked sending the country over the fiscal cliff rather than strike a deal to avert the tax increases and spending cuts that begin in January unless Congress intervenes.

In Washington, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner declared a stalemate in the talks and said Obama’s plan to raise taxes on the rich was the wrong approach.

“There is a stalemate. Let’s not kid ourselves,” the Ohio Republican said. “Right now we are almost nowhere.”

Lawmakers are nervously eyeing the markets as the deadline approaches, with gyrations likely to intensify pressure to bring the drama to a close.

Major stock market indexes fell as Boehner spoke but recovered afterward. It was a repeat of the pattern earlier in the week when the Speaker offered a gloomy assessment.

The latest round of high-stakes gamesmanship focuses on whether to extend the temporary tax cuts that originated under former President George W. Bush beyond their December 31 expiration date for all taxpayers, as Republicans want, or just for those with income under $ 250,000, as Obama and his fellow Democrats want.

“If Congress does nothing, every family in America will see their taxes automatically go up on January 1,” Obama said during his visit to a factory in suburban Philadelphia. “That’s sort of like the lump of coal you get for Christmas. That’s a Scrooge Christmas.”

Obama, who made higher tax rates for the wealthy a centerpiece of his re-election campaign, said Americans should pressure Republicans to quickly agree to extend the middle-class tax cuts that cover 98 percent of the public.

“We already all agree, we say, on making sure middle-class taxes don’t go up. So let’s get that done. Let’s go ahead and take the fear out for the vast majority of American families so they don’t have to worry,” Obama said at The Rodon Group factory, which makes K’NEX building toy systems as well as Tinkertoys and consumer products.

‘VICTORY LAP’

Obama’s trip to Pennsylvania was part of a renewed public relations push on the fiscal cliff that the White House hopes will build support for his stance. The effort has infuriated Republicans, with Boehner calling it a “victory lap” on Thursday as he rejected Obama’s proposals to avoid the cliff.

“It tells you he’s not interested in negotiating. He’s more interested in traveling around the country trying to campaign,” Representative Jim Gerlach, a Pennsylvania Republican, said on CNBC on Friday.

The effort continues next week, as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Obama’s lead negotiator in the talks, makes the rounds of television talk shows on Sunday. Obama will meet a bipartisan group of governors at the White House on Tuesday, and the president will address the Business Roundtable on Wednesday.

Boehner is scheduled for an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

Obama and Boehner both said they still believe the two sides can work together to find a solution before the end-of-year deadline.

But Boehner has been scrambling to keep his House Republicans in line, with some signaling more flexibility on ways to find a combination of new revenue and spending cuts that could yield an agreement.

Most House Republicans refuse to back higher rates, preferring to raise revenue through tax reform. But some have suggested they would support a deal with higher rates for the rich if it includes significant cuts in the government-sponsored Medicare and Medicaid healthcare entitlement programs.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that Republicans would agree to more revenue – although not higher tax rates – if Democrats agreed to such changes as raising the eligibility age for Medicare and slowing cost-of-living increases in the Social Security retirement program.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, who has opposed such changes, brushed off the comments. “Nothing new in that statement from Mitch McConnell,” she said.

Moderate Republican Representative Steven LaTourette of Ohio, who is retiring at year’s end, said he would back some high-end tax rate increases if the deal reforms Medicare.

He said he would support new limits on high-income earners’ Medicare benefits, and raising the eligibility age for entitlement programs.

Obama said he was encouraged by the shifting views of some Republicans, and urged House approval of a bill that has already cleared the Democratic-controlled Senate that would lock in the middle-class tax cuts and raise the rates for the rich.

“If we can get a few House Republicans on board, we can pass the bill … . I’m ready to sign it,” Obama said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Thomas Ferraro, Kim Dixon, Edward Krudy; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Fred Barbash and Xavier Briand)

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Noisy city: Cacophony in Caracas sparks complaints

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — This metropolis of 6 million people may be one of the world’s most intense, overwhelming cities, with tremendous levels of crime, traffic and social strife. The sounds of Caracas‘ streets live up to its reputation.

Stand on any downtown corner, and the cacophony can be overpowering: Deafening horns blast from oncoming buses, traffic police shrilly blow their whistles and sirens shriek atop ambulances stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Air horns routinely used by bus drivers are so powerful they make pedestrians on crosswalks recoil, and can even leave their ears ringing. Loud salsa music blares from the windows of buses, trucks with old mufflers rumble past belching exhaust, and “moto-taxis” weave through traffic beeping high-pitched horns.

Growing numbers of Venezuelans are saying they’re fed up with the noise that they say is getting worse, and the numbers of complaints to the authorities have risen in recent years.

One affluent district, Chacao, put up signs along a main avenue reading: “A honk won’t make the traffic light change.”

“The noise is terrible. Sometimes it seems like it’s never going to end,” said Jose Santander, a street vendor who stands in the middle of a highway selling fried pork rinds and potato chips to commuters in traffic.

Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega recently told a news conference that officials have started “putting an increased emphasis on promoting peaceful coexistence” by punishing misdemeanors such as violations of anti-noise regulations and other minor crimes. That effort has translated into hundreds of noise-related cases in recent years.

Some violators are ordered to perform community service. For instance, two young musicians who were recently caught playing loud music near a subway station were sentenced to 120 hours of community service giving music lessons to students in public schools.

Others caught playing loud music on the street have been charged with disturbing the peace after complaints from neighbors. Fines can run as high as 9,000 bolivars, or $ 2,093.

On the streets of their capital, however, Venezuelans have grown used to living loudly. The noisescape adds to a general sense of anarchy, with many drivers ignoring red lights and blocking intersections along potholed streets strewn with trash.

“This is something that everybody does. Nobody should be complaining,” said Gregorio Hernandez, a 23-year-old college student, as he listened to Latin rock songs booming from his car stereo on a Saturday night in downtown Caracas. “We’re just having fun. We’re not hurting anybody.”

Adding to the mess is the country’s notoriously divisive politics, which regularly fill the streets with marches and demonstrations.

On many days, the shouts of protesters streaming through downtown can be heard from blocks away, demanding pay hikes or unpaid benefits.

And the sporadic crackling of gunfire in the slums can be confused for firecrackers tossed by boisterous partygoers.

It’s difficult to rank the world’s noisiest cities because many, including Venezuela’s capital, don’t take measurements of sound pollution, said Victor Rastelli, a mechanical engineering professor and sound pollution expert at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas. But Rastelli said he suspects Caracas is right up there among the noisiest, along with Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Mumbai.

Excessive noise can be more than simply an annoyance, Rastelli said. “This is a public health problem.”

Dr. Carmen Mijares, an audiologist at a private Caracas hospital, said she treats at least a dozen patients every month for hearing damage caused by prolonged exposure to loud noises.

“Many of them work in bars or night clubs, and their maladies usually include temporary hearing loss and headaches,” Mijares said. For others, she said, the day-to-day noise of traffic, car horns and loud music can exacerbate stress and sleeping disorders.

Several cities have successfully reduced noise pollution, said Stephen Stansfeld, a London psychiatry professor and coordinator of the European Network on Noise and Health.

One of the most noteworthy initiatives, Stansfeld said, was in Copenhagen, Denmark, where officials used sound walls, noise-reducing asphalt and other infrastructure as well as public awareness campaigns to fight noise pollution.

But such high-tech solutions seem like a remote possibility in Caracas, where streets are literally falling apart and aging overpasses regularly lack portions of their guard rails. Prosecutors, angry neighbors and others hoping to fight the noise will have to persuade Venezuelans to do nothing less than change their loud behavior.

For Carlos Pinto, however, making noise is practically a political right.

The 26-year-old law student and his friends danced at a recent street party to house music booming from woofers in his car’s open trunk, with neon lights on the speakers that pulsed to the beat.

When asked about the noise, he answered: “We will be heard.”

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AP freelance video journalist Ricardo Nunes contributed to this report.

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Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker

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