Home Improvement information and facts: Distinct Floor Tiles You'll ...

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Home Improvement information and facts: Distinct Floor Tiles You?ll Be Able To Choose From ? Home ? Home Repair

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You can make your home far more attractive with all the correct flooring. One of many most well-known today is floor tiles. Most home owners today use this type of flooring because it offers a feeling of luxurious and comfort. It can produce a formal or informal mood, determined by the type of stone you select. Generally, ceramic floors are the most formal while flagstone flooring are far more informal. The very good issue about floor tiles is you?ll be able to personalize the colours and patterns. They?re also more durable compared to wood.

Tips on proper tiling for homes

Style and pattern

When selecting floor tiles, you ought to constantly start off with all the basics. Don?t get excited too much and often appear for more alternatives. The very first thing you should know is the fashion and notion. It really is simpler to acquire the proper product in case you know what you desire. Is there a particular fashion for your residence? Do you desire it to appear more contemporary or just ordinary squeaky thoroughly clean? From this, you can easily select the colour and pattern for the flooring.

Obtaining the measurement

The best method to estimate how several tiles you?ll need is to measure the ground area in 1 course. How large is your cooking area? Are you considering tiling the entire house? Rely 50 percent tiles as complete types too. Do the identical for the other areas of the floor. Verify the width with the tile then multiply the figures. This will establish the number of tiles required to the floor area. You need to also take into account buying added tiles. Often buy them in one batch and function from numerous boxes to accomplish a good mix of shading.

Deciding on the proper components

When using a large scale tile (tiles larger than 300x300mm), combine BAL PTB having a BAL Large format Trowel. The supplies will rely on the type of tile you may use. Test the area and also the environment. If in almost any doubt, contact your homebuilder to produce positive you will get the right goods.

Distinct varieties of floor tiles

Mosaic tiles

Ceramic, porcelain, and glass are ingredients that make up mosaic tiles. This square tiles is usually less than 2 inches, or 2.5 cm. You can rearrange these squares to form a new image or pattern. Many people use mosaic tiles for their kitchen. They combine these tiles with vinyl to come up with more unique flooring. Mosaic tiles are also easy to install. You just need to get the measurement of each box to attach them properly.

Ceramic tiles

A lot of people use these tiles for their garage to provide more comfort and to awesome off the area. Ceramic tiles can be slippery so ensure to use the right abrasive in the event you plan to make use of them indoors. You will find also quarry tiles offered. These stain effortlessly so be sure to seal every single a single prior to making use of it as flooring. You ought to also verify the ground tolerances employing a directly edge. Verify at numerous points about the ground. Ideally, there must be no more than 4mm gap two.5 m directly edge. The optimum for ceramic tiles must be 6mm. Uneven surfaces can impact the high quality and look of the flooring.

About the Author

The author is a distributor for different types of bathroom fixtures and bathroom floor tiles.

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author?s information and copyright must be included.

Lucy McDonald

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Source: http://www.gem-o.com/2012/07/29/home-improvement-information-and-facts-distinct-floor-tiles-youll-be-able-to-choose-from/

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Management Trainee Columbus MS (Enterprise) | Enterprise ...

Regardless of college major or professional experience, nearly 100% of our full-time employees start out in our Management Training Program. This allows everyone to learn our business from the ground up and understand how they play a significant role in seeing it succeed.

Once you've completed your initial orientation and training, you'll be assigned to a branch office in your home area and the hands-on training begins. You'll learn valuable business skills from capable mentors who were once in your shoes. Nearly 100% of all our managers and corporate executives started out as Management Trainees.

During your first year, you will actively participate in everything from sales and marketing and customer service to operations and finance. As you progress, you will be tested and evaluated to determine your proficiency in these areas. Successful completion of these tests and evaluations will result in rewards, pay increases and the opportunity for continued promotions.

As you progress, increasingly more opportunities will become available to you. You can choose, as most people do, to continue your rewarding ascent within our Rental Operations managerial track or you can explore one of many other exciting options including Fleet Services, Human Resources, Car Sales, Accounting, Marketing and more.

Looking for candidates with experience in restaurant management, retail management, account executive, account manager, customer service, commissioned sales, incentive based sales, sales executive, account executive, sales representative, business development, B2B sales, sales coordinator, sales manager, retail manager, restaurant manager who are looking for entry level sales, retail or management opportunities.

Responsibilities:

As a Management Trainee, you are empowered to make business decisions that greatly affect your career as well as the bottom line. You'll gain responsibility for developing new business and maintaining current relationships. You'll be responsible for understanding cost control, reading your branch's P&L statement and understanding what it takes to run a profitable business. You will also learn how to deliver superior customer service. We will teach you how to effectively communicate, influence and interact with all types of customers, vendors and co-workers. You'll learn proper sales techniques to problem solving and conflict management. Those skills will provide you with the opportunity to market to local business partners and build solid, long-lasting relationships with key business decision-makers. In your development to become a successful manager at Enterprise, you'll learn how to mentor, train, develop, manage and promote a staff of your own.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree required with a minimum of 12 months of experience (can be non-concurrent) in either sales or management in a sales or service industry within the last 3 years. Will consider leadership experience in student organizations/clubs, volunteer work or community service in lieu of work experience. Will also consider experience as a student athlete.

• Must be at least 18 years old.

• Must have a valid driver's license with no more than 2 moving violations and/or at-fault accidents on driving record in the past 3 years.

• No drug or alcohol related conviction on driving record in the past 5 years (ie., DUI/DWI).

• Must be authorized to work in the United States and not require work authorization sponsorship by our company for this position now or in the future.

Source: http://www.collegerecruiter.com/display-job/523633/Management-Trainee-Columbus-MS-(Enterprise).html

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Toronto Team Building Activities to produce Your Business Team More

It is very easy for a business office staff to become satisfied. They can fall into the routine where they become very self-sufficient and rely on their particular fellow workers less. While this may seem like the best thing, many office responsibilities can be accomplished quicker far better when the team really does them as a whole instead of relying on the input of only one person. If your business is in Toronto, team building events activities from a firm like XPEERience Group can help create that ?we? mindset again.

This company specializes in Keynote Speaker Canada activities in a number of settings. Choosing the proper team building events activities is important when setting up an event such as this as it is important to be sure all staff members are comfy with the events. All things considered, it would not serve a reason to alienate staff during a team building routines as you want everyone to sign up in the events.

One of the most popular packages with regard to Toronto team building activities could be the Ultimate Xpeerience. This package encompasses low physical impact activities including dodgeball, water balloon chuck, and volleyball along with more demanding team development activities like the water obstacle course and also the outdoor rockwall. Most employers will have a pretty good thought of what their staff is capable of and can select the team building activities that can work best for their employees.

The beauty of an getaway such as this is that nearly all employees forget why they are actually presently there in the first place. They are possessing so much fun, that they naturally form an improved bond with their fellow workers and improve the teamwork frame of mind that has been missing from the office. So how really does all of this actually incorporate itself back into the business office?

Something that a lot of companies will perform is have an employees meeting to discuss your outing the next time the entire staff is together in the office. Keep it very informal and talk about the various events and how the particular winning teams managed to perform so well. Retain stressing how they utilized each person?s strengths to assist the team perform far better.

Once this subject matter gets rolling, start to bring up examples of jobs around the office which were delayed because the ?team? had not been working together. Keep in mind this is not a disciplinary meeting, simply a reinforcement of how successful it is to work together. From that point, hand out the same assignment to both of these individuals and teams. Let them have a limited time to develop them and then keep a meeting later in the day to monitor improvement.

While there may be a lot of people capable of pulling from the upset victory, generally, the teams are able to present a better and more complete project. This is where management can bolster the idea of how important it is to work as a team whenever possible instead of operating alone all the time. It will not be long before the entire workplace benefits from the Toronto team building activities they liked during the outing.

For more information about Keynote Speaker Toronto visit our website.

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Source: http://www.backlinkarticles.com/computers/toronto-team-building-activities-to-produce-your-business-team-more-efficient.html

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The Positive aspects of Outsourcing In Compact Corporations ...

Ahead of we can start discussing the advantages of outsourcing specifically in tiny organizations we have to completely realize what outsourcing is and what outsourcing isn?t (as a lot of persons typically confuse it with off-shoring, a similar but diverse point).

So what is outsourcing? A pretty current addition to company terminology, outsourcing within a business is the delegation of certain non-core operations to other separate entities that specialize in those operations. Place incredibly basically, outsourcing implies giving away specific tasks which even though imperative to the actual business, will be far better managed by a different market which specializes in that job.

Outsourcing entails transferring management manage and decision creating power for the other industry also. This implies that there?s a lot much more interaction, and information and facts exchange, coordination and trust among the outsourcer and its client, making it diverse from the established buyer-seller relationship.

Now that we?ve established what outsourcing is, let?s focus on what it can be not. Outsourcing is commonly confused to off shoring, which can be the relocation of an complete or component of a functional unit of your business to another nation, whether or not it remain in that business?s manage or not. Outsourcing is generally restricted domestically. In several instances, including telemarketing, the enterprise wishes to employ the service of overseas call centers. Therefore when outsourcing crosses national borders it really is referred to as offshore outsourcing.

So why should providers outsource? There are many rewards of outsourcing, especially for modest corporations. The primary cause for outsourcing will be the cut in expenses, as they don?t need to supply positive aspects to their workers, and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about. Quite a few businesses prefer offshore outsourcing, as it permits them to make use of the low labor expenses of nations such as India and China. Not simply that, the reasonably high exchange rates in these countries makes offshore outsourcing additional advantageous. In India, the dollar exchange rate is 45 rupees per each American dollar. Thus the typical American worker who would take (for e.g) $5 per hour might be replaced by an Indian worker employed at $2/hour.

Outsourcing also enables smaller organizations to concentrate on core competencies, and relieve themselves of your peripheral ones. Thus they are able to focus on supplying superior top quality solutions and service. Even if the excellent does not boost, the cut in price makes it possible for for greater productivity. This increases the general economy in total. Not just that, the small business can generate fantastic superior goods without having possessing to employ a sizable quantity of folks. Thus lowering their general labor charges and employee benefit.

The most beneficial facet of outsourcing although could be the ability to employ professionals to acquire the perform completed. In locations for example marketing and telemarketing, it?s typically far more expense successful, and productive to hand over the process to a separate organization and spend them accordingly. Thus in place of handling their own affairs within a substandard manner, they?re able to employ professionals to carry out the course of action efficiently and effectively. And the moment the outsourcing business is assured that its client is managing perfectly, it could focus on creating superior solutions and services.

For tiny organizations, outsourcing makes it possible for them to function with all the minimum of labor and equipment expenditure. As an example, a small firm outside city limits can outsource its transport, thus making it unnecessary for it to acquire buses, cutting the cost of fuel and saving its resources. A further prime example is telemarketing and advertising. A lot of organizations favor to outsource this facet of advertising and marketing to specialist contact centers and advertising agencies, thus eliminating the need to have to type an complete unit devoted to this task. Not simply that, but since the outsourcing client features a totally established infrastructure devoted specifically for the service provided, there is certainly no necessity for a little company to invest in developing its own internal infrastructure to accommodate that service.

In small firms there?s only a limited access to resources and tips. Outsourcing enables the business enterprise to garner new ideas and innovations. It could also result achievable cash influx as a result of transfer of assets to the new provider

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Executive Interview: Andy Sabo, Top 10 Funding | Commercial Real ...

Andy Sabo

President and CEO

Top 10 Funding, LLC

Originally from Woodbridge, New Jersey, Andy Sabo now lives in Hawaii Kai, Honolulu, Hawaii. His professional background includes work in real estate finance, management, marketing, teaching, and software development. He has over 30 years of international business, IT, consulting, and software and database development experience, and has owned and operated several businesses in these industries. Mr. Sabo holds a degree in Electronics Technology from DeVry University and a BS and MBA from Hawaii Pacific University.

As a private lender for commercial real estate, Mr. Sabo?s Top 10 Funding works with an expansive portfolio of private lending institutions and investor backed funding sources. His firm provides?funding for projects such as apartments, office buildings, mixed-use, retail, and self-storage. Financing specialties include new property acquisition, construction and development, property improvement, cash-out refinancing, and short-term financing.

Q: How did you get your start in the real estate finance business?

I worked in IT for about 30 years, including 10 years for a major manufacturer as the Asia/Pacific Applications Engineer. The world travel was a great experience. When local companies began outsourcing SW development projects, I found myself out of work and ended up working on my own as a contractor. I got involved with several start-ups in IT and worked with some of my contacts to import products from Asia.

I kicked around several career options and ended up answering an ad in Craigslist for a Commercial Real Estate Finance Agent with a company based out of Texas. The company seemed to be focused on Multi-Level Marketing. Agents paid a sizable monthly fee that was distributed to management. There was little emphasis on actual lending. This experience offered me an opportunity to learn the industry and go out on my own.

Q: Tell us about the process of founding Top 10 Funding. What challenges did you face in starting your own firm?

The two major challenges were establishing credibility with the public and finding talented agents to work with a new company. Building credibility came with time and by publishing blogs and articles on professional sites, such as LinkedIn, LoopNet, DeepPockets, and CREPIG.

The most common issue new agents had was training and mentoring. I developed a series of training videos and an online library with research documentation for the agents to build upon. Finding motivated agents is still a challenge.

Q: In the last year or so, have you seen changes in the market?s conditions? How has your strategy changed as a result?

Last year we were receiving requests for multifamily purchase and refinance. Banks were not making these loans. We are starting to see a reversal of this trend. As the banks offer more commercial products, we need to strengthen our position with equity financing, hard money and construction.

Q: In recent months, has any market or asset class surprised you with its performance? Are there any you think are underrated in today?s commercial real estate market?

The big surprise for us is hospitality. Our local market is reporting highest occupancy rates in three years. Airlines are reporting an increase in traffic in 2012, which is great news for the hospitality sector. Banks are categorically rejecting all hospitality loans. This is an opportunity for private lenders in the coming year.

Q: Tell us about your use of social media and other forms of online presence. What does technology add to your business? How do you think such technology will impact the industry in coming years?

We are not as active in social media as we should be. Many people in this industry use social media to drive traffic to their website and promote their business offerings. Social networks should be viewed like any other business network. If you focus on giving you will be rewarded with referrals.

Q: What is your favorite part of your job? What is your least favorite?

My favorite part of the job is when the deal works for everyone involved. It is much like hitting a home run and watching the ball go over the fence. The borrower and lender are both grateful and I am grateful for the relationships I have with them.

My least favorite part is when I learn that a borrower or broker is giving false information or is trying to manipulate me or my lenders. We all know there is a dark underbelly to this business, but there are also honest people with real problems to solve.

Q: Do you think the upcoming election will have a significant effect on your industry? Will uncertainty over taxes or financial regulations impact your company?

Borrowers turn to the private lending industry because the major banks are not willing to fund their projects. The outcome of the elections will certainly have an impact on our industry because the top issues are the economy and imminent tax increases. CMBS markets are still slowly healing and the effects of regulatory changes may not be seen for another decade.

Q: Seeing as how you already live in Hawaii, where do you like to go for vacation??

Many people think we are always on vacation in Hawaii. Like everyone else, we work hard and play hard. My favorite place to visit is Australia. Sydney and Melbourne are great cities and the people are very friendly and accommodating. I also travel to the mainland US to visit my family in CA and NJ.

Q: For those of us planning a trip to your state, what do you recommend we visit while we?re there?

Hawaii is a beautiful place rich in culture and so much to see. Our average temperature is around 82?F, so people like to come here to get away from the cold weather. Waikiki Beach and Kilauea Volcano are the most popular places.? The winter swell brings huge surf and great surf events on the North Shore of Oahu and February we are visited by Humpback whales. There something for everyone here: shopping, great local food, surfing, fishing, hiking, cultural events, great golf courses, business conferences, and a great place to relax.

?#CRE

Source: http://llenrock.com/blog/executive-interview-andy-sabo-top-10-funding/

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Syrian forces pound key commercial hub Aleppo

NBC's Richard Engel reports from Syria, where government loyalists are launching a major counter-offensive to maintain control of Aleppo, the nation's largest city, which is considered to be critical to the survival of the Syrian government.

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By NBC News and wire reports

Updated at 8:01 a.m. ET: NORTHERN SYRIA -- President Bashar Assad's forces withdrew from towns and villages throughout Syria on Thursday and turned toward the key city of Aleppo, pounding rebels with artillery and attack helicopters in the country's commercial hub.?

"It could be a humanitarian disaster for the people of Aleppo," NBC News' Richard Engel reported from northern Syria. "It also means the Syrian troops are forced to make trade-offs. They don't have enough loyal troops to make the offensive against Aleppo and hold these rural areas."

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Myth vs. truth in the Syrian conflict

Military experts believe an overstretched Syrian army is pulling back to concentrate on fighting insurgents in Aleppo and Damascus, important power centers for the government, while leaving outlying areas in the hands of rebels.?Assad's forces have launched massive counterattacks in both cities.

Pierre Torres / AFP - Getty Images

Free Syria Army opposition fighters guard a group of police officers Wednesday after overrunning the Shaar district police post in Aleppo.

Meanwhile, opposition activists said thousands of troops had withdrawn with their tanks and armored vehicles from Idlib province near the Turkish border and were heading toward Aleppo. Rebels attacked the rear of the troops withdrawing from the north, activist Abdelrahman Bakran told Reuters from the area.

Fierce clashes raged in the early hours in Aleppo itself, and an activist said rebels now controlled half of the city, a claim that could not be independently verified.?

Syria: What you need to know about the crisis from the CFR.org

"There was shelling this morning on the Salaheddine and Mashhad districts," Aleppo activist Abu Hisham told Reuters. "Now it stopped, but helicopters are buzzing overhead."?

Activists said 24 people were killed in fighting in and around Aleppo on Wednesday, swelling a national death toll of about 18,000 since the revolt against Assad began 16 months ago.?

The Syrian government's army is descending on the northern city of Aleppo after the city was seized by rebels. NBC's John Ray reports.

'Terrorists are suffering terrible losses'
State-run Syrian television painted a more favorable picture, saying government troops were imposing security and stability in and around Aleppo.

"The terrorists are suffering terrible losses. Groups of them are throwing their weapons away and giving themselves up. Others are fleeing for the Turkish border," the television report said.?

Photos: The battle for Aleppo

Nevertheless, Engel and other journalists have repeatedly observed government troops retreating from "secondary towns" so they can fight opposition forces in the capital Damascus and now Aleppo, leaving vast swathes of the countryside under rebel control.?

"When government forces pull out of a place they lose control and immediately rebel flags go up and rebels hold celebrations," Engel said. "Those celebrations have been attacked so now the rebels are deciding not to hold celebrations because they're noisy, they have lights and they're easy to target."

Total war: Syria sends armored column to Aleppo

Meanwhile, north of Aleppo, the town of Azaz has been almost completely destroyed by heavy fighting, Reuters reported. Burned-out armored personnel carriers sat on the roads where rebels hit them with rocket-propelled grenades. Bullet casings were scattered everywhere.?

Dozens are reported dead in Syria where opposition forces are fighting to maintain control of Syria's commercial capital Aleppo. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

In another key development, neighbor Turkey was not allowing goods or people to pass over the Bab al-Hawa?border crossing after rebels took base near Aleppo over the weekend, Engel said.?

"Maybe they're concerned about there being too many rebels or refugees crossing," he said. "There may also be concern that the Turks may be losing control of security in sourthern Turkey."

Fighting in and around Aleppo is expected to prompt an exodus across the Turkish border, where some Syrian refugees are already complaining about poor conditions and have clashed with riot police in disputes over food.?

"There is not enough food. They have broken our hearts, the Turks. Why are they doing this to us?" a sobbing woman named Umm Omar, with her four children huddled next to her in a camp near the border, told Reuters.

Photo Blog: Who are the Syrian rebels?

Rebels also took the Bab al-Salam border crossing with Turkey over the weekend.

Artillery and rockets
Further south, Syrian forces used artillery and fired rockets on Wednesday on the northern Damascus suburb of al-Tel in an attempt to seize it from rebels, forcing hundreds of families to flee, residents and opposition activists said.?

"Military helicopters are flying now over the town. People were awakened by the sound of explosions and are running away," Rafe Alam, one of the activists, told Reuters by phone from a hill overlooking Tel. "Electricity and telephones have been cut off."?

The latest massacre began with a military bombardment of the village of Tremsi. After the heavy artillery and shelling, villagers said pro-government militia men swept in to kill at close range. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

Opposition sources also reported helicopters and machine guns were firing on the neighborhood of Hajar al-Aswad. The slum lies on the southern outskirts of the capital and has been a haven for rebels sneaking into Damascus from the suburbs.?

NBC News' F. Brinley Bruton and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News on NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/26/12963787-syrian-troops-withdraw-from-secondary-towns-as-armored-column-closes-in-on-aleppo?lite

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WH looks to set record straight: We've got Churchill's bust (Washington Bureau)

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Video: Romney: ?London IS ready? for Summer Games

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Fatahillah Square - The Old City Hall Square In Old Town Jakarta

In 1707 during the Dutch Occupation of Jakarta, the Old Batavia City Hall was constructed and served as the administrative centre, first for the Dutch East India Company or VOC and later for the Dutch Government. The front yard of this hall is what is today known as the Fatahillah Square.
Covering an area of 1.5 hectares, the square is paved with concrete tiles. Recent renovations in 2008 saw the addition of old style lamp posts and concrete balls in differing sizes laid along the paving.

Centering the square is a fountain which is thought to have been a water supply source during the Dutch and Portuguese rule. A cannon dating back to the Portuguese period also occupies a place in the square. An ornamental hand gesture on the cannon is thought to be a fertility sign for females by the locals.

During the past, the square, being part of the city hall was also used as a venue for executions. In fact the front rooms in the city hall building which now house the Jakarta National Museum for the most part, leads off into underground rooms dungeons.

The Fatahillah Square was acknowledged as a Cultural Heritage Site and declared open as such in 1970. This marked the beginning of the development of this area of the Old Town of Jakarta. Together with this inauguration was that of the National Museum as well which houses many historical and locally important, culturally diverse artifacts and exhibits.

As a large, open and public area found in the Indonesian capital, which is a rarity, the evenings see Fatahillah Square crowded with pedestrians, cyclists, food vendors, families and plenty of other individuals.

For those visiting Jakarta and wishing for a taste of the Old Jakarta and Batavia then Fatahillah Square is for you. If visiting the city for a longer period then serviced accommodation Jakarta may be the best option for travellers. Of the serviced apartments Jakarta, a well situated, luxurious and comfortable option will be the Somerset Grand Citra Jakarta. These apartments offer the comfort and facilities of a hotel stay coupled with the convenience of a home stay making for an ideal accommodation choice.

About the Author:
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Fatahillah-Square---The-Old-City-Hall-Square-in-Old-Town-Jakarta/4063434

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EU: Talks on Iran's nuclear program to continue

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Iranian and international technical experts have exchanged details on proposals to end the standoff over Tehran's controversial nuclear program and a new meeting will be set soon, the European Union said Wednesday.

A statement said the Istanbul-based talks lasted a full day and ended early Wednesday.

The talks followed three rounds of negotiations between Iran and six world powers that have failed to produce a breakthrough.

At the last meeting in Moscow in June it was agreed to set up the experts level meeting, and ? if sufficient progress on bridging differences between the two sides was achieved ? to then have Iran's No. 2 nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri meet with Helga Schmid, the EU official in charge of the talks.

It was agreed in Istanbul that the two officials would meet but no date has yet been set, said an official who could not be named under EU rules.

The meeting in Istanbul was led by nuclear expert Stephan Klement on behalf of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. The experts came from the six powers ? Britain, the United States, the European Union, China, France, Germany and Russia ? involved in the talks and collectively known as the E3+3.

The statement said the experts had met with the Iranian team, and "provided further detail of the E3+3 proposal given to Iran in Baghdad (while) Iran shared further detail of their proposal; and the experts explored positions on a number of technical subjects."

The EU, U.S. and other nations suspect Iran's nuclear program is aimed at developing atomic weapons. Iran denies this, and says it is for peaceful purposes, such as producing energy and medical isotopes.

Iran is already under four sets of U.N. sanctions and measures levied by the U.S and tried unsuccessfully to use the Moscow talks to get the sanctions eased.

An EU ban on Iranian oil came into full effect July 1, and analysts expect the sanctions to cut the crude exports of Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer.

The EU embargo, combined with the fresh measures that prohibit the world's banks from completing oil transactions with Iranian banks, significantly ratchet up the pressure on an Iranian economy already squeezed by previous rounds of sanctions.

___

George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-04-Iran-Nuclear/id-141fe9fcd8834dd8a3f2382a702ae8c7

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Syrian opposition makes new push to unite

CAIRO (AP) ? The Arab League chief urged exiled Syrian opposition figures to unite at a meeting Monday as a new Western effort to force President Bashar Assad from power faltered. Another 85 soldiers, including a general, fled to Turkey in a growing wave of defections.

Turkey's state-run Andolou news agency said the group of defectors also included 14 other officers, ranging from one colonel to seven captains. It is one of the largest groups of Syrian army defectors to cross into Turkey since the uprising against Assad began.

The stakes are high for calming the crisis in Syria, which NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday called "one of the gravest security challenges the world faces today."

But more than one year into the Syrian revolt, the opposition is still hobbled by the infighting and fractiousness that have prevented the movement from gaining the kind of political traction it needs to present a credible alternative to Assad.

"There is an opportunity before the conference of Syrian opposition today that must be seized, and I say and repeat that this opportunity must not be wasted under any circumstance," Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby told nearly 250 members of the Syrian opposition at the opening of the two-day conference in Cairo.

"The sacrifices of the Syrian people are bigger than us and more valuable than any narrow differences or factional disputes," he said.

Nasser Al-Kidwa, deputy to U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, said that unity of purpose and vision was "not an option, but a necessity if the opposition wants to bolster its popular support and trust and increase international support."

The divisions are tied to issues at the heart of the revolution: Whether to seek dialogue with the regime, whether outside military intervention is needed and what ideology should guide a post-Assad Syria.

Unlike Libya's National Transitional Council, which brought together most factions fighting Moammar Gadhafi's regime and was quickly recognized by much of the international community, Syria's opposition has no leadership on the ground.

Regime opponents inside and outside Syria are a diverse group, representing the country's ideological, sectarian and generational divide. They include dissidents who spent years in prison, tech-savvy activists in their 20s, former Marxists and Islamists.

Communication between those abroad and those in the country is extremely difficult. Political activists in Syria are routinely rounded up and imprisoned. Many are in hiding, communicating only through Skype using fake names, and the country is largely sealed off to exiled dissidents and foreign journalists.

The Cairo conference brought together various opposition groups ? including the Syrian National Council and the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria ? to try to agree on a united front to represent them, as well as to work out a transition plan for how to end to the conflict.

However, the main rebel group fighting Syrian government forces on the ground, the Free Syrian Army, was not represented at the talks. Faiz Amru, a member of the Joint Military Command, which is affiliated with the FSA, said the Cairo meeting was purely political, so rebels were not invited.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his hope that the Cairo meeting could contribute to the efforts of the U.N. special envoy and international community "to pave the way toward a meaningful transition in Syria."

"It is important that the Syrian opposition increase its cohesion and designate effective representative interlocutors," said a statement released by Ban's spokesperson.

Besides the conference in Cairo, opposition members also plan to meet Russian officials later this month, a Russian news agency reported. But the Moscow talks are significant because the Kremlin is Syria's most important ally, protector and supplier of arms.

Diplomatic hopes have rested on persuading Russia to agree to a plan that would end the Assad family dynasty, which has ruled Syria for more than four decades.

Moscow's determination to preserve its last remaining ally in the Middle East has blocked efforts by the U.S. and other Western powers to force Assad out.

World powers at a conference in Geneva on Saturday accepted a U.N.-brokered plan calling for the creation of a transitional government with full executive powers in Syria. But at Russia's insistence, the compromise left the door open to Assad being part of the interim administration.

Some Syrian opposition groups have rejected the plan, calling it ambiguous and a waste of time and vowing not to negotiate with Assad or members of his "murderous" regime.

However, the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria said Monday that the plan is the best way to ensure a political transition that avoids a full collapse of the Syrian state.

Elaraby, who has held private meetings with Syrian opposition figures at the League's headquarters in the past, said the agreement did not meet Arab expectations because it did not specify a time frame for a "clear transition" as the League had called for.

The U.S. backed away from insisting that the plan should explicitly call for Assad to have no role in a new Syrian government, hoping the concession would encourage Russia to put greater pressure on its longtime ally to end the regime's violent crackdown.

The conflict has killed more than 14,000 people since the revolt began in March 2011, according to opposition estimates. The fighting has grown increasingly militarized in recent months, with rebel forces launching attacks and ambushes on regime targets.

Thousands of soldiers, most of them low-level conscripts, have deserted and joined the rebels. The 85 soldiers who crossed over to Turkey on Monday followed 33 others, including a general and two colonels, who did the same a week earlier, in a sign that high-level defections appear to be increasing.

Although the defections are notable, Assad's regime has remained remarkably airtight, particularly compared with the hemorrhaging of Gadhafi's inner circle in Libya in 2011.

Assad has refused to budge, saying his country is at war with terrorists ? the term he uses for his armed opponents. On Monday, he ratified a new terrorism law that includes a clause specifically aimed at the opposition. Under the law, the penalty for terrorism that aims to change the regime would exceed 20 years at hard labor.

As the conflict drags on, concerns are mounting that the violence will spiral outside the country's borders. Tensions already are running high between Damascus and Ankara after Syria shot down a Turkish military plane on June 22.

Syria said the jet violated its airspace, but Turkey says the aircraft was shot down over international waters.

Turkey responded by setting up anti-aircraft guns along the frontier and said Monday it dispatched fighter jets to its border after Syrian helicopters flew too close to the frontier for a second day on Sunday.

In Brussels on Monday, Fogh Rasmussen said the Syrian regime "has lost all humanity and all legitimacy." But there is little appetite for the type of military intervention that helped topple Libya's Gadhafi, in part because there is no real opposition to get behind.

The international community is also hesitant to get involved in another country in turmoil.

"Every member of the international community should use its influence and spare no effort to bring an end to the bloodshed and move Syria forward," he said. "This conflict has already gone on for too long. It has cost too many lives, and put the stability of the whole region at risk."

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Kennedy reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-makes-push-unite-172501721.html

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Adafruit's Pi Cobbler breakout kit puts Raspberry Pi's pins to work

Leave it to Adafruit to really help a product deliver on its DIY promise. Those pins on the Raspberry Pi taunted us from the moment we laid our hands on it, and not just cause we weren't sure what to do with them. The board's makers didn't exactly make playing with them easy. Actually, prototyping a project with a Pi embedded seemed like a logistical nightmare destined to become a mess of wires. The Pi Cobbler solves that problem with a ribbon cable, some header pins and a custom PCB. The kit lets you easily run those 26 I/O pins to solderless breadboard... after you've soldered together the Cobbler, of course. The whole, unassembled package will set you back just $7.95, which sounds like a pretty sweet deal to us. Especially since each pin is nice and clearly labeled. Hit up the source link to order yours.

Adafruit's Pi Cobbler breakout kit puts Raspberry Pi's pins to work originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hong Kong holds big protest as new leader sworn in

Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, shakes hands with Hong Kong's new Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying after Leung was sworn in, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Hong Kong Sunday, July 1, 2012. Hong Kong's new Beijing-backed leader was sworn in on Sunday amid a rising tide of public discontent over widening inequality and lack of full democracy in the semiautonomous southern Chinese financial center. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, shakes hands with Hong Kong's new Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying after Leung was sworn in, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Hong Kong Sunday, July 1, 2012. Hong Kong's new Beijing-backed leader was sworn in on Sunday amid a rising tide of public discontent over widening inequality and lack of full democracy in the semiautonomous southern Chinese financial center. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

A protester, center left, is ushered away by security officials after he shouted "(for China) To reverse its condemnation of the brutal June 4, 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square and to end to one-party rule in China " before Chinese President Hu Jintao's address after Hong Kong's new Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was sworn in at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center Sunday, July 1, 2012. Hong Kong's new Beijing-backed leader was sworn in on Sunday amid a rising tide of public discontent over widening inequality and lack of full democracy in the semiautonomous southern Chinese financial center. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Hong Kong's Chief Executive-elect Leung Chun-ying, right, and his wife Regina shake hands with supporters during a flag raising ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China, Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Hong Kong. Leung was sworn in as Hong Kong's third leader amid growing discontent with China's rule over the Asian financial center. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, administers the oath to Hong Kong's new Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, left, as he is sworn in for a five-year term in office at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center Sunday, July 1, 2012. Hong Kong's new Beijing-backed leader was sworn in on Sunday amid a rising tide of public discontent over widening inequality and lack of full democracy in the semiautonomous southern Chinese financial center. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents pack a street during a pro-democracy protest march in Hong Kong, Sunday, July 1, 2012. The march was an occasion for ordinary people to air their grievances over a range of issues. There is rising public discontent over widening inequality and lack of full democracy in the southern Chinese financial center. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

HONG KONG (AP) ? A pro-democracy heckler interrupted a speech by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the swearing-in of Hong Kong's new leader Sunday and tens of thousands of residents marched to protest Chinese rule on the 15th anniversary of the Asian financial hub's return to Beijing's control.

The outpouring of discontent underscored rising tensions between the Communist mainland and the vibrant city of 7 million that was returned to China in 1997 after more than a century of British colonial rule. While much of the discontent revolves around growing economic inequality and stunted democratic development, Hong Kongers are also upset over what they see as arrogant Chinese behavior - wealthy mainlanders taking over retail outlets during flashy Hong Kong shopping trips, for example, or even the choice of language during Sunday's swearing-in ceremony, Beijing-accented Mandarin instead of the Cantonese dialect spoken locally.

In the ceremony, self-made millionaire Leung Chun-ying, 57, became Hong Kong's third chief executive after Donald Tsang and Tung Chee-hwa. He has promised to address Hong Kongers' economic needs, including skyrocketing housing prices, which many blame on deep-pocketed mainland apartment buyers.

A demonstrator who tried to interrupt Hu as he began his address was bundled away by security officials. The man, one of the guests invited to the inauguration, waved a small flag and yelled slogans calling for China's leaders to condemn the brutal June 4, 1989, crackdown on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. He also called for an end to one-party rule in China. Hu took no notice and continued to read his speech, but the incident marred what was supposed to be a carefully orchestrated visit emphasizing strengthened ties between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Leung, a police officer's son, replaces career bureaucrat Tsang, who took office in 2005 and is barred from another term.

Leung was chosen as chief executive in March, winning 689 votes from a 1,200-seat committee of business elites who mostly voted according to Beijing's wishes. Hong Kong's 3.4 million registered voters, who can vote for neighborhood councilors and half of all lawmakers, had no say.

In mid-afternoon, tens of thousands of protesters began marching toward the newly built government headquarters complex on Hong Kong Island in sweltering heat, beating drums and waving British colonial flags in a gesture of nostalgia for an era during which democratic rights were limited but the rule of law was firmly in place.

The protesters jammed the route of the march, a series of thoroughfares bordered by high-rise apartments and office buildings. There was occasional tension with the thousands of police officers deployed to maintain order, but by and large the event went off peacefully.

Organizers said more than 400,000 participated while police estimated there were 63,000 at the procession's peak. Hu left Hong Kong before the march began.

In his speech, Hu said Hong Kong residents now have more democratic rights and freedoms than ever before - a reminder that China has largely kept the promise it made when it regained the territory from Britain to keep Hong Kong's relatively open political system in place for 50 years.

But that did little to assuage the feelings of the protesters, who see China's Communist Party rule as strongly at odds with the values that many inherited from a British-influenced education, and the continuing spread of democracy to Asian neighbors like South Korea and Chinese-speaking Taiwan.

"China's way of thinking is totally different from ours," said builder Bono Lau, 46. "Tung Chee-hwa talked about one country, two systems but there's no more of that nowadays."

Beijing has pledged that Hong Kong can elect its own leader in 2017 and all legislators by 2020 at the earliest, but no roadmap has been laid out.

Calls for democracy have been catalyzed by the stunted election that catapulted Leung to power and by corruption scandals surrounding his predecessor. Ordinary Hong Kongers fear that the political system in place since 1997 has resulted in the city's billionaire tycoons having too much influence over senior government officials. Government data now show that income inequality has risen to its highest level in four decades.

Leung himself was implicated in an embarrassing scandal just last week when it emerged that he had made six illegal additions to his mansion in an exclusive neighborhood on Hong Kong Island's Victoria Peak.

___

Follow Kelvin Chan on Twitter at http://twitter.com/chanman

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-01-AS-Hong-Kong-New-Leader/id-f77750404e11432ca6a90b3730016a62

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