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Monday, March 18, 2013

Indian police arrest 5 over Swiss tourist's rape

A security officer inspects the site where a Swiss woman was reportedly gang raped by a group of eight men while touring by bicycle with her husband, near Orchcha, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Authorities detained and questioned 13 men in connection with the latest attack, which occurred Friday night as the couple camped out in a forest in Madhya Pradesh state after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha, local police officer R.K. Gurjar said. (AP Photo)

Indian children participate in a protest against child abuse and rising crimes against women, in Bhubaneswar, India, Saturday, March 16, 2013. India has seen outrage and widespread protests against rape and attacks on women and minors since a fatal gang-rape of a young woman in December on a moving bus in New Delhi, the capital. In the most recent case, a Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in central India with her husband has been gang-raped by eight men, police said. (AP Photo/Biswaranjan Rout)

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Police said they arrested five men Sunday in connection with the gang rape of a Swiss woman who was attacked in central India while on a cycling vacation with her husband.

All five men admitted to the attack, which occurred Friday night as the woman and her husband camped out in a forest in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh state, said D. K. Arya, a senior police officer.

Arya said the men, who are from nearby villages, were arrested in Datia. Police were searching for two other men believed to have been involved in the attack, he said.

The couple told police that the woman had been raped by seven or eight men, but that it was dark and they could not be sure of the exact number, Arya said. They said the husband also was attacked by the men.

The woman, 39, was treated Saturday at a hospital in the nearby city of Gwalior and was released later that day, police said.

The couple were planning to travel later Sunday from Datia to the Indian capital of New Delhi, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the north, Arya said.

The attack came three months after the fatal gang rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus outraged Indians, and was front-page news in Indian newspapers on Saturday.

Prior to the attack, the couple, who were on a three-month vacation in India, had visited the temple town of Orchha and were planning to cycle to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, nearly 210 kilometers (130 miles) away.

They set out from Orchha on Friday and pitched their tent in a forest near Jatia village when they were attacked by a group of men armed with wooden sticks, police said.

The men beat up the husband, tied him to a tree and then raped the woman, police said. They also stole the couple's cellphone, laptop computer and 10,000 rupees ($185). Police said they recovered the laptop and phone from one of the men who was arrested.

The Swiss ambassador in India, Linus von Castelmur, said he spoke with the couple and assured them of the Swiss government's help and support.

"Their health and treatment is the priority of the moment," the Swiss Embassy said in a statement.

The embassy said it was in touch with authorities in Madhya Pradesh and has urged a "swift investigation and for justice to be done."

Figures from India's National Crime Records Bureau show that a woman is raped every 20 minutes in India. However, many incidents of rape and other sexual crimes go unreported due to the stigma attached to such crimes in the conservative country. India's conviction rate for rapes and other crimes against women is among the lowest in the world.

Last month, the Swiss government issued a travel notice for India that included a warning about "increasing numbers of rapes and other sexual offenses" in the South Asian nation, and the latest incident could prompt other countries to issue similar warnings.

Travel industry representatives in India said the incident, coming so soon after the December gang rape in New Delhi, would affect tourism.

"Such incidents will definitely have a negative impact on tourism. It is very unfortunate," said Subhash Goyal, head of the Indian Association of Tour Operators.

According to government statistics, around 6.5 million foreign tourists visited India in 2011, generating about $120 billion for the nation's travel and hospitality sector.

The gang rape in December of a 23-year-old student aboard a moving bus in New Delhi set off nationwide protests, sparking a debate about the treatment of women in India and highlighting the inability of law enforcement agencies to protect them.

One of six suspects in the December attack was found dead in a New Delhi jail last week. Authorities said he hanged himself, but his family and lawyer insisted foul play was involved, and a magistrate is investigating. Four other men and a juvenile remain on trial for the attack.

The incident prompted the government to pass a law increasing prison terms for rape from the existing seven to 10 years to a maximum of 20 years. The law provides for the death penalty in extreme cases of rape that result in death or leave the victim in a coma. It has also made voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women punishable under criminal law.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-17-India-Tourist-Gang%20Rape/id-5de5b8fb748a4236998b4a51da200077

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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Online Business Systems | WEB PASSIVE INCOME

If you considering to start an online business you may have been wondering what online business systems are available and which?business system is best for you.

On Web Passive Income we focus on?online business systems which can be automated to create passive income. Our ideal business model should require as little work as possible to free the owners time up to focus on growing the business. We believe that the business owner should work on the business (spend time to develop the business) not in the business (doing the mundane tasks).

What is a online business system

A online business system is nothing ells than??a systematic sequence of activities with the aim to sell a product or service?

In principal?an online business?is the same as?running a normal?business with the difference that?most or all the mundane tasks is done on the net by computers.

In a? non online business each step within the business is controlled by rules?typically captured in policies?and procedures. For example:

Goods are received by a storeman. The storeman book the goods into the store by labelling it, add the product data in a computer,?the goods are then placed in a rack which is labelled with information which corresponds with?the information within the computers?for later retrieval.?While he is at it the computer keeps track of stock level and flag when new stock have to be ordered or in smart systems automatically order the goods.

An online business system work exactly the same with the difference that the rules are written in?code and the bulk of the work is done on a server.

There is no magic when compiling online business systems. All you need to is to sit down and draw a diagram outlining the logical flow through your business. Identify which information you want to capture in the process and what you want to do with the information.

The online business system can be as simple or complex as you like.

The system may be as simple as having a sales page which directs customers to a?form where they fill in their details. The forms then directs them to a online pay gateway e.g. Paypal. PayPal returns a payment confirmation back to your site. Your site then places an automated order with an order, and pays the supplier.?The supplier then packs and ship the product to the client without your involvement.
Other more complicated systems may include systems where the client contacts is added to mailing lists, which automatically sends out news letters or special deals etc.

The beauty of online businesses is that all of your marketing and administrative tasks?can be automated which would leave you with the?physical tasks if you have physical product. Smart online business owner will outsource these tasks as well which leaves them with only the high level management tasks.

Online Business?Options

Michal Rappa director of the Institute for Advanced Analytics at North Carolina State University?made a study of existing available business models (Business Models on the Web). He identified 9 types of online businesses.

Brokerage
Advertising
Infomediary
Merchant
Manufacturer (Direct)
Affiliate
Community
Subscription
Utility

Each one of the business models can be implemented on its own as a focussed business system. It is not uncommon that combinations of these business systems are used by website owners to increase the web business profitability. Combining the different systems have the benefit that it increases the probability of realising a sale for different people response different to different methods of marketing.

Brokerage System

Brokers?brings sellers and buyers?in contact with each other?and facilitate transactions between them.? Broker earn money by charging a fee or they earn a?commission for each transaction?facilitated. Fees can vary depending on the type of transaction. A brokerage business system include;

Marketplace Exchange ? this option acts as a outsources service and offers a full range of services covering the transaction process,?do market assessment,?negotiate on behalf of one of the parties, etc. Exchanges?can?operate independently or are supported by an industry.
Buy/Sell Fulfillment ? This system takes customer orders to buy or sell a product or service like a reseller.
Demand Collection System ? the patented ?name-your-price? model pioneered by Priceline.com. Prospective buyer makes a final (binding) bid for a specified good or service, and the broker arranges fulfillment. [Priceline.com]
Auction Broker ? conducts auctions for sellers (individuals or merchants) e.g. eBay. The website acts a broker which?charges the seller a listing fee and commission scaled with the value of the transaction. Each Auction broker determines their own rules.
Transaction Broker ? provides a third-party payment mechanism for buyers and sellers to settle a transaction. [PayPal, Escrow.com]
Distributor ? is a catalog website that connects product manufacturers with?buyers.?This system?facilitates?transactions between?distributors and?trading partners.
Search Agent ? a software agent or ?robot? used to search-out the price and availability for a good or service specified by the buyer, or to locate hard to find information.
Virtual Marketplace ? or virtual mall, a hosting service for online merchants that charges setup, monthly listing, and/or transaction fees. May also provide automated transaction and relationship marketing services.

Advertising Model

The web advertising model is a web site which?provides content and services (mostly for free). Examples of these are:??email, IM, and?blogs. The free content is mixed with advertising?in the form of banner ads. The ads may be the major or sole source of revenue for the site owner. Typically the site owner create the content or may acquire?content from an external source. For the?advertising model to succeed the site owner needs a large number of visitors/readers or needs to be?highly specialized.

Portal ? usually a search engine that may include varied content or services. A high volume of user traffic makes advertising profitable and permits further diversification of site services. A personalized portal allows customization of the interface and content to the user. A niche portal cultivates a well-defined user demographic. [Yahoo!]
Classifieds ? list items for sale or wanted for purchase. Listing fees are common, but there also may be a membership fee. [Monster.com, Craigslist]
User Registration ? content-based sites that are free to access but require users to register and provide demographic data. Registration allows inter-session tracking of user surfing habits and thereby generates data of potential value in targeted advertising campaigns. [NYTimes]
Query-based Paid Placement ? sells favorable link positioning (i.e., sponsored links) or advertising keyed to particular search terms in a user query, such as Overture?s trademark ?pay-for-performance? model. [Google, Overture]
Contextual Advertising / Behavioral Marketing ? freeware developers who bundle adware with their product. For example, a browser extension that automates authentication and form fill-ins, also delivers advertising links or pop-ups as the user surfs the web. Contextual advertisers can sell targeted advertising based on an individual user?s surfing activity.
Content-Targeted Advertising ? pioneered by Google, it extends the precision of search advertising to the rest of the web. Google identifies the meaning of a web page and then automatically delivers relevant ads when a user visits that page. [Google]
Intromercials ? animated full-screen ads placed at the entry of a site before a user reaches the intended content. [CBS MarketWatch]
Ultramercials ? interactive online ads that require the user to respond intermittently in order to wade through the message before reaching the intended content. [Salon in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz]

Infomediary business system

Information about consumers and the products they consume it very valuable especially if that information is well research and analysed. Some websites specialises in collecting data through surveys, strategically placed advertisements etc.?The information is dissected and made available to third parties at a fee.

Advertising Networks ? feed banner ads to a network of member sites, thereby enabling advertisers to deploy large marketing campaigns. Ad networks collect data about web users that can be used to analyze marketing effectiveness. [DoubleClick]
Audience Measurement Services ? online audience market research agencies. [Nielsen//Netratings]
Incentive Marketing ? customer loyalty program that provides incentives to customers such as redeemable points or coupons for making purchases from associated retailers. Data collected about users is sold for targeted advertising. [Coolsavings]
Metamediary ? facilitates transactions between buyer and sellers by providing comprehensive information and ancillary services, without being involved in the actual exchange of goods or services between the parties. [Edmunds]

Merchant business Model

Website which specializes in wholesalers and retailers of goods and services. Sales may be made based on list prices or through auction (also known as e-commerce).

Virtual Merchant ?or e-tailer, is a retail merchant that operates solely over the web. [Amazon.com]
Catalogue Merchant ? mail-order business with a web-based catalogue. Combines mail, telephone and online ordering. [Lands' End]
Click and Mortar ? traditional brick-and-mortar retail establishment with web storefront. [Barnes & Noble]
Bit Vendor ? a merchant that deals strictly in digital products and services and, in its purest form, conducts both sales and distribution over the web. [Apple iTunes Music Store]

Manufacturer(Direct) Model

A?manufacturer may select?to use the??direct model?. With this model the manufacturer relies on the power of the internet to promote the companies brand? and to make sales. It is beneficial for companies to make use of?the direct model because it shortens the supply chain?, reducing the companies costs of sales.

Purchase ? the sale of a product in which the right of ownership is transferred to the buyer.
Lease ? in exchange for a rental fee, the buyer receives the right to use the product under a ?terms of use? agreement. The product is returned to the seller upon expiration or default of the lease agreement. One type of agreement may include a right of purchase upon expiration of the lease.
License ? the sale of a product that involves only the transfer of usage rights to the buyer, in accordance with a ?terms of use? agreement. Ownership rights remain with the manufacturer (e.g., with software licensing).
Brand Integrated Content ? in contrast to the sponsored-content approach (i.e., the advertising model), brand-integrated content is created by the manufacturer itself for the sole basis of product placement.

Affiliate Model

The affiliate model brings vendors and marketers together. Vendors can list their products on a affiliate site.?Affiliates get the opportunity to signup as a marketer/partner for a product. The affiliate then markets the product at the affiliates cost in return for commission when a sale is made. It is a pay-for-performance model ? if an affiliate does not generate sales,?there is?no cost to the merchant. The affiliate model is well-suited to the web, which explains?the popularity of affiliate marketing.

Banner Exchange ? trades banner placement among a network of affiliated sites.
Pay-per-click ? site that pays affiliates for a user click-through.
Revenue Sharing ? offers a percent-of-sale commission based on a user click-through in which the user subsequently purchases a product.

Community Business Model

The community model relies on the loyalty of users. The users is the main contributors to the website or product. Income is derived from?ancillary products, services, donations, contextual advertising, and subscriptions

Open Source ? software developed collaboratively by a global community of programmers who share code openly. Instead of licensing code for a fee, open source relies on revenue generated from related services like systems integration, product support, tutorials and user documentation. [Red Hat]
Open Content ? openly accessible content developed collaboratively by a global community of contributors who work voluntarily. [Wikipedia]
Public Broadcasting ? user-supported model used by not-for-profit radio and television broadcasting extended to the web. A community of users support the site through voluntary donations. [The Classical Station (WCPE.org)]
Social Networking Services ? sites that provide individuals with the ability to connect to other individuals along a defined common interest (professional, hobby, romance). Social networking services can provide opportunities for contextual advertising and subscriptions for premium services. [Flickr, Friendster, Orkut]

Subscription Business Model

Users signup to a subscription service and?are charged a periodic ? daily, monthly or annual ? fee. Subscription fees are incurred irrespective of actual usage.?An advertising model is?often?combined with the subscription service.

Content Services ? provide text, audio, or video content to users who subscribe for a fee to gain access to the service. [Listen.com, Netflix]
Person-to-Person Networking Services ? are conduits for the distribution of user-submitted information, such as individuals searching for former schoolmates. [Classmates]
Trust Services ? come in the form of membership associations that abide by an explicit code of conduct, and in which members pay a subscription fee. [Truste]
Internet Services Providers ? offer network connectivity and related services on a monthly subscription. [America Online]

Utility Model

The utility model is based on?a ?pay as you go? approach.?Metered services are based on actual usage.

Metered Usage ? measures and bills users based on actual usage of a service.
Metered Subscriptions ? allows subscribers to purchase access to content in metered portions (e.g., numbers of pages viewed). [Slashdot]

Web Passive Income Recommendation

Affiliate marketing is the easiest type of online business system to start?and fits in with the Web Passive Income model. With affiliate marketing creating a money making stream is as easy as placing your affiliate link on your website. All other commercial activities is taken care of on the affiliate site. Affiliate marketing can be combined with the advertising model.

Advanced?webmasters which have developed an on demand services product can explore the subscription?models, and direct marketing models. This combination is good for marketing e-books and quality knowledge.

Infomediary business system and Merchant business Model requires a significant amount of the webmasters time to process the information and?sales. Unless the owner makes use of an automated system (may include human automation) Web Passive Income does not recommend these options.

The brokerage model , community base model, utility model, can be very complicated and unless these models are of specifically of interest to the webmaster should be avoided.

Share and Enjoy

Source: http://webpassiveincome.com/online-business-systems/

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Dixie Chicks' Maines moving on as solo artist

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Natalie Maines is starting out nervous on stage, almost 10 years to the day that the Dixie Chicks spitfire slammed then-President George W. Bush and forever changed the fate and fortunes of the country superstars.

On this night she barely speaks between songs.

Her hair slicks up in a punkish pompadour. She looks slimmer than when the Dixie Chicks began a hiatus in 2007 that may never end. The crowd at the South by Southwest music festival to hear Maines perform her solo debut "Mother" for only the second time is a healthy size, but it is also far from a packed house.

"We missed you, Natalie!" one fan hollers.

Maines smiles but doesn't banter back.

"I ask myself, 'Why is that? What are you doing, girl?'" Maines told The Associated Press the next morning at a downtown Austin hotel. "I think right now I have so much to remember. This is the most guitar I've ever had to play."

Now 38 and a solo artist for the first time in her career, Maines is candid about the past and guarded about the future. Ask whether the Dixie Chicks will ever record new music again, she curls in her chair with tense energy and declines to predict.

"I think I thought time would heal and that I would come around. But just like the song says, I'm still waiting," said Maines, pulling a lyric from the band's defiant 2006 smash single "Not Ready to Make Nice."

Fellow Chicks Emily Erwin and Martie Maguire don't needle her to reunite in the studio, Maines said, but she acknowledges that choosing the solo project "Mother" as her first album since 2006 may not have been their first choice. "I'm pretty sure they would rather I be making a Dixie Chicks record, but they would never say that, thank God," Maines said.

Now rehash her takedown of then-President Bush in 2003 and ? well, on second thought, don't bother.

Maines does that herself.

"Good thing I'm not a told ya so kind of person or I might point out that 10 years ago today I said GWB was full of bull and I was right," she tweeted on March 10, three days before her first South by Southwest performance.

When the Texas-born Maines told a London crowd at the start of the Iraq invasion she was ashamed to be from the same state as Bush, the Dixie Chicks became pariahs of the country music industry that vaulted them to stardom. Radio stations blackballed the Dixie Chicks from playlists and legions of fans turned their backs.

The Dixie Chicks stayed firm during the backlash, and released "Taking the Long Way" in 2006 that won five Grammys and was a best-seller despite being largely ignored by country radio. Maines now refers to the group as "tainted" but is still open to performing live with the Dixie Chicks, and two shows are scheduled in Canada this summer.

Those concerts will be a different sound than "Mother." The album is Maines putting her take on covers that span from Pink Floyd (the album title borrows from "The Wall"), Eddie Vedder's "Without You" and Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over."

Guitar virtuoso Ben Harper produced the album and performed with Maines at SXSW for a lively show that skewed far more on the side of rock and Americana than the bluegrass and country combination of the Dixie Chicks. Maines first played at the 2,700-seat Moody Theater that is the home studio for Austin City Limits ? a big and tough venue to fill at SXSW, given the 2,200 other artists all vying for attention.

Maines doesn't expect to win back fans that Dixie Chicks lost, and isn't sure who will embrace her different sound now.

"I like what the three of us had together," Maines said of the Dixie Chicks. "I did what was required. It felt like my job. I felt like a businesswoman in the industry I was in. I feel like I accepted that and waved that country flag but always felt like I was holding on to who I was, and we were still considered rebellious in the Top 40 country market. But it was news to me that people thought I was something I wasn't.

"The cat just feels out of the bag now," Maines said. "I'm not sure I can go back to that."

___

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dixie-chicks-maines-moving-solo-artist-150201837.html

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Syracuse to face Louisville in Big East finale

Louisville coach Rick Pitino gestures to his team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Notre Dame at the Big East Conference tournament Friday, March 15, 2013, in New York. Louisville won 69-57. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Syracuse's Baye Keita (12) celebrates after the overtime period of an NCAA college basketball game against the Georgetown at the Big East Conference tournament Friday, March 15, 2013, in New York. Syracuse won the game 58-55. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Georgetown head coach John Thompson III watches his team play during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against the Syracuse at the Big East Conference tournament Friday, March 15, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Syracuse's C.J. Fair (5) drives past Georgetown's D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (4) during the overtime period of an NCAA college basketball game at the Big East Conference tournament Friday, March 15, 2013, in New York. Syracuse won the game 58-55. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Syracuse's Brandon Triche (20) drives past Georgetown's Jabril Trawick (55) and Markel Starks (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Big East Conference tournament Friday, March 15, 2013, in New York. Syracuse won the game 58-55. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Jim Boeheim against Rick Pitino. Not a bad way for the Big East to take a bow.

Syracuse and Louisville are all set to square off in the championship game of this farewell tournament Saturday night. Boeheim and the Orange advanced Friday evening with a 58-55 overtime victory against old rival Georgetown, then the Cardinals defeated Notre Dame 69-57 in the second semifinal at Madison Square Garden.

An original Big East power vs. Pitino's defending champs.

And then, it's all over.

"I thought about it before the game, obviously, and you think about it a little bit," said Boeheim, the coach at Syracuse for its entire Big East tenure. "It means a lot to us to get to the finals of this tournament. It means a lot."

Syracuse is bolting to the ACC next season, along with Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. Louisville will follow a year later.

Meanwhile, the rest of conference is breaking up. Georgetown is one of seven basketball-centric Catholic schools ditching their football-focused counterparts to create their own league, which will begin play next season and retain the Big East name.

So it's been a week of nostalgia in New York leading up to this finale.

"It's very exciting to be in another final game, especially the last year of existence in the Big East," said Pitino, an assistant under Boeheim at Syracuse early in their coaching careers.

It is Louisville's third straight trip to the title game and fourth in five years. The Cardinals are trying to become the first repeat champions since Syracuse in 2005 and 2006.

Louisville also won in 2009, beating the Orange in that final.

"I think around this time of year Coach really pushes us to bring our game to a higher level," Cardinals guard Peyton Siva said.

Syracuse and Louisville split their two meetings this season, with both winning at home.

The matchup nearly everyone was revved up about Friday was the first semifinal between Syracuse and Georgetown, who went nose-to-nose in a throwback struggle one last time at the Big East tournament.

Of course, 40 minutes wasn't enough to decide it.

And that was only fitting.

Brandon Triche scored the go-ahead basket early in overtime for the 19th-ranked Orange, who walked away winners in the final conference clash of their storied heavyweight rivalry with No. 5 Georgetown.

"It hurts," Hoyas point guard Markel Starks said. "We did some good things. But that doesn't mean anything with the outcome."

There's an interest on both sides to resume the series as nonconference foes, but no deal has been completed.

When the game was over, a Syracuse fan dressed in an orange T-shirt behind the baseline held up a sign that read, "This rivalry is officially closed."

Decades ago, former Georgetown coach John Thompson drew the ire of Syracuse fans forever when he proclaimed "This building is officially closed" after the Hoyas won the final game at Manley Field House, the old home for the Orange before the Carrier Dome opened.

The bitterness goes both ways.

"It's Syracuse. Anybody from Georgetown will tell you that they don't like them," said Hoyas forward Otto Porter Jr., the Big East Player of the Year. "It's the best rivalry in college basketball."

The fifth-seeded Orange (26-8) will make their 15th appearance in the tournament title game and go for their sixth crown Saturday night. They held top-seeded Georgetown (25-6) to 22 percent shooting from 3-point range (4 of 18) with their trademark 2-3 zone and got a big game from their bench to avenge a pair of double-digit losses to the Hoyas this season.

"Just us losing last time by 20, that meant a lot for us to even get to play against them again," Triche said. "Just reading comments from them, talking trash about us, it made it even more important to win a game like this."

Triche, James Southerland and backup center Baye Moussa Keita all had 13 points for Syracuse in a highly anticipated game that certainly delivered.

The teams ended up splitting 14 meetings in the Big East tournament, another appropriate conclusion.

"It's a shame they're heading down to Tobacco Road for a few dollars more," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "This is a rivalry that meant a lot to our program and to their program and to this conference."

Boeheim earned his 50th win at the Big East tournament, by far the record. The Orange had lost four of five coming into the tournament, all to ranked teams, before knocking off Seton Hall, Pittsburgh and Georgetown the past three days.

"I'm happy for Jim because his team was going the wrong way," Pitino said.

Russ Smith scored 20 points and Siva added 12 to lead fourth-ranked Louisville over No. 24 Notre Dame, the third straight year the Cardinals beat the Fighting Irish in the semifinals.

Siva, the tournament MVP last season, had six assists and seven steals, which tied the tournament record.

"He's just an incredible player," Pitino said.

It was Louisville's second consecutive win over Notre Dame since the Fighting Irish beat the Cardinals in a five-overtime classic on Feb. 9 in South Bend. That was the only loss in the last 13 games for the Cardinals.

Second-seeded Louisville (28-5) shared the regular-season championship with Georgetown and Marquette. The experienced Cardinals reached the Final Four last season and might be able to lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with a victory Saturday night.

Sixth-seeded Notre Dame (25-9) was making its fourth straight semifinal appearance, but the Irish are leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference next season and never did reach the Big East championship game.

"I'm very disappointed we could never get to Saturday," coach Mike Brey said. "So a little bit of unfinished business, but we'll get over it quickly and get ready to prepare for next week."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-16-BKC-T25-Big-East-Championship/id-1648814647e940c0a82d66c234095a99

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Saturday, March 16, 2013

Analysis: Will U.N. declaration on violence against women change Egypt?

Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

Women shout slogans against Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood during a protest rally near Tahrir Square in Cairo on March 8, 2013.

By Charlene Gubash, Producer, NBC News, News analysis

After a decade of disagreement, 130 nations decided on Friday to adopt a historic, albeit non-binding, United Nations declaration on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. Language on gay rights, abortion and marital rape had reportedly been watered down to secure the agreement of Muslim and Catholic conservative states.

Mervat Tallawy, an Egyptian envoy and head of the National Council on Women, praised the accord. ?International solidarity is needed for women?s empowerment and preventing this regressive mood, whether in the developing countries or developed, or in the Middle East in particular,? Tallawy told reporters after the successful vote. ?It?s a global wave of conservatism, or repression against women, and this paper is a message that if we can get together, hold power together, we can be a strong wave against this conservatism.??

Tellawy might have been tailoring her comments to Egypt?s Muslim Brotherhood. The group exerts tremendous influence on Egypt?s government after the election of a former leader and current member, President Mohamed Morsi. The Brotherhood had issued a statement on its English Ikhwanweb website describing how the declaration ?would lead to complete disintegration of society, and would certainly be the final step in the intellectual and cultural invasion of Muslim countries.?

The ten-point statement warned that the declaration would grant women equal rights to her husband, control over household finances, birth control, divorce, the ability to travel and would allow a woman to sue her husband in case of rape.

The Muslim Brotherhood?s statement was not refuted by the presidency, which issued a clarification of its stance on the declaration on violence against women. ?The Office of the Assistant to the President of Egypt on Foreign Relations affirmed official rejection of violence against women in all of its forms ?for any reason under any name,? but within the context of Egypt?s commitment to upholding its new constitution. However, the constitution was agreed to only by Islamists and rejected by secularists and moderates who felt that it failed to protect or improve women?s rights and human rights.

The passage of the declaration, a victory for women in general, may not change life in the short term for Egypt?s females. At present, 83% of Egyptian women face sexual harassment, over 90% have undergone female genital mutilation and almost 35% suffer domestic violence. Tallawy said in a statement issued by the National Council of Women that Egypt approved the charter on the condition that it be implemented according to each country?s laws and traditions and is accredited under the category of ?moral obligation? to be implemented according to each country's local affairs. Soraya Bahgat, anti- sexual harassment activist, said there is still a lot of work to be done.?

"The fact that Egypt is one of the few countries that had opposed [the declaration] sheds light on where we stand on women's rights. Its not a surprise because our current practices do not espouse things in the declaration," Bahgat said. "For example, a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry a Christian man. There idea that a woman is a man's property is deeply rooted in Egytian society ?. I am not sure how [the passage of the declaration] will change things today. These are things that need to be tackled in the long term. We need to focus on what obstacles we have inside the country."

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Audi on a roll: Automaker setting sales records

Paul A. Eisenstein , NBC News ? ? ? 1 day

Audi dealers across the country are struggling to meet demand for many of their models, with U.S. officials pressing the factory back in Germany to up their allotment.

It?s a far different situation from what Volkswagen?s luxury subsidiary faced two decades ago. Still roiling from a safety scandal for which it was eventually cleared, Audi sales all but dried up. And in 1992, the maker came close to pulling out of the U.S. market, a decision it reversed only at the last minute.

Today, Audi is one of the market?s fastest-growing luxury brands, setting a series of annual sales records. And though it still lags segment leaders like Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, it is rapidly closing the gap, with sales for the North American market projected to more than double to 300,000 by decade?s end, according to Audi AG CEO Rupert Stadler.

Its global goals are even more ambitious. In a race with BMW for the worldwide luxury sales lead, Audi is already running ahead of its growth targets, selling 1.46 million vehicles in 2012 and shooting for 1.5 million this year ? a goal it originally had set for 2015. By decade?s end, Stadler is looking for volume to reach 2 million.

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To get there, the maker is planning to invest more than $14 billion through just 2015 to support a product program that will cover the increasing breadth of the luxury segment, from the small A3 hatchback to an assortment of new crossover-vehicles, such as the planned Audi Q6.

"There are years in which to harvest in our industry and there are years in which you sow," said Stadler. While the cost will be significant, the payoff should come by 2020. ?We are preparing to (sell) 2 million cars annually."

Along with its new product blitz, Audi plans to rapidly expand production capacity around the world, adding a facility in Mexico, its first in North America, and another new one in China.

?In the coming year, Audi will for the first time build more cars outside Germany than within,? said Stadler, hinting that further overseas production options are under study, including plants in Russia and Brazil.

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That reflects the rapidly changing nature of the global luxury car market, long dominated by Europe and the United States. While Europe will remain ?a very, very strong pillar of our business,? that market is stable and even declining, so looking forward, Stadler sees ?the big growth patterns for Audi will be in Asia, in China, in North America, also probably in South America.?

That?s not to say Audi will have an easy time of it. BMW last month regained its global sales lead from Audi, fighting back with a mix of new products and aggressive pricing. That?s particularly true in the huge and fast-growing Chinese market, where ?premium dealers have been under a lot of pressure in recent days,? said Deutsche Bank auto analyst Jochen Gehrke.

That has translated into a lot of discounting ? and lower margins. Indeed, Audi?s net profits fell 2 percent last year, to 4.35 billion euros, or $5.7 billion, though its ramped-up investment program takes most of the blame. The company?s operating margins also dipped to a still-strong 11 percent, and ahead of the 8 percent to 10 percent target for the next two years.

A key challenge for the maker going forward will be identifying ?white space? where new products can be targeted. That?s no easy feat these days. There was a time when luxury makers routinely offered only a handful of models each, such as Audi?s small, medium and large A4, A6 and A8 sedans. Today, the highline segment is an alphanumeric soup of sedans, coupes, sports cars SUVs and hard-to-define crossovers.

Meanwhile, the market is being driven by often divergent trends. While Audi will bet heavily on new CUVs, Scott Keogh, head of Audi of America, has big ambitions for the downsized A3 sedan that journalists attending the New York Auto Show will get a sneak peek at next week.

Audi Tapping the Wind to Power its New A3 g-Tron

Audi also made headlines at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, unveiling its new A3 Sportback e-Tron, a plug-in hybrid hatchback. Like its high-line competitors, Audi has recognized that even upscale buyers want to go green. ?We plan to add one more (plug-in) per year,? said technology chief Heinz Hollerweger during a Geneva interview.

Audi is a very different company from the struggling luxury car maker of the 1990s. It is already a leader worldwide and rapidly gaining ground in the U.S. Operating as a virtual standalone enterprise, Audi has become the single largest financial contributor to the bottom line of parent Volkswagen AG.

It is also a key contributor to VWAG?s goal of toppling Toyota to become the world?s best-selling automaker overall before decade?s end.

So Stadler and his team at Audi will have little room for error.

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/audi-roll-automaker-setting-annual-sales-records-1C8897058

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Samsung Galaxy S 4 official: 5-inch 1080p display, Octa-core Exynos chip and 13MP camera

Samsung Galaxy S 4 officially announced

Another year, another Galaxy S flagship smartphone from Samsung. 2013's version of the crown jewel, the Galaxy S 4, has just been officially announced at its Unpacked event. Since we know you're dying to find out what's new, let's dive straight into the details. The GS 4 features a 5-inch 1080p (1,920 x 1,080) Super AMOLED panel which offers a pixel density of 441 ppi and the ability to use your gloves at the same time. It's also a powerful beast: it packs 2GB RAM and will come with either a 1.6GHz Exynos Octa-core chip or a 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm, depending on your region. (Unfortunately, Samsung hasn't yet specified which Snapdragon we can expect, but we're guessing it's at least a 600 if not an 800.) Refreshingly, it will also come with Android 4.2.2 on-board when it launches.

Dimension-wise, the GS 4 is 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm (5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inch) and weighs 130g (4.59 ounces). The chassis itself is actually 0.8mm skinnier, 0.7mm thinner and 3g lighter than its predecessor, which is impressive given its larger screen size and 2,600mAh battery. It will launch in black and white hues, though Samsung plans to add more colors to its lineup as the year progresses. Head below the break as we continue to reveal what else you can expect from the newest Galaxy device.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy S 4 press shots