(MY080) 565K new jobless claims, lowest level since Jan

WASHINGTON – The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits last week fell to lowest level since early January, largely due to changes in the timing of auto industry layoffs.

Continuing claims, meanwhile, unexpectedly jumped to a record-high. While layoffs are slowing, jobs remain scarce and the unemployment rate is rising, which some economists worry could weaken or delay a recovery. The unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent last month and is expected to top 10 percent by the end of this year.

Separately, many retail chains reported disappointing June sales, as consumers are saving more and spending less.

New claims for unemployment insurance plummeted by 52,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 565,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's significantly below analysts' expectations of 605,000 for the week ending July 4, according to Thomson Reuters. The last time new claims were below 600,000 was week of Jan. 24.

"This is not as positive as it looks," Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients. "There are a number of special factors at play here, including the fact that the holiday-shortened week skewed the data."

(MY079) Use of vibrators common, surveys show

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Two Indiana University surveys suggest that vibrator use during sexual encounters is common among American men and women and is linked to better sexual health.

Dr. Debra Herbenick and colleagues surveyed 2,056 women between 18 and 60 years old and found that more than half of the women (52.5%) had used a vibrator, with nearly 1 in 4 having done so in the past month.

Women who used vibrators were more likely to have had gynecologic check up within the past year and were also more likely to have performed a genital self-exam within the past month.

In addition, women who used vibrators, and particularly recent users, reported more desire, arousal, lubrication, and orgasm, and less pain.

Most women (71.5%) said they never had any side effects associated with vibrator use and side effects that did occur were generally not severe or long-lasting.

Dr. Michael Reece and colleagues surveyed 1,047 men, also between 18 and 60 years old and found that, for both solo and partnered sexual activities, 44.8% of the men had used a vibrator at some point in their lives, with 10.0% having done so in the last month, 14.2% within the past year, and 20.5% at some point more than a year ago.

"Men who used vibrators, particularly those with recent use, were more likely to report participation in sexual health promoting behaviors, such as testicular self-exam," Reece and colleagues report.

In addition, men who reported recent vibrator use scored themselves higher on sexual desire, erectile function and satisfaction with sex and orgasms, than men who did not report recent vibrator use.

In an Indiana University-issued statement, Herbenick said: "The study about women's vibrator use affirms what many doctors and therapists have known for decades -- that vibrator use is common, it's linked to positive sexual function such as desire and ease of orgasm, and it's rarely associated with any side effects."

"The study about male vibrator use," Reece added, "is additionally important because it shows that vibrator use is also common among men, something that has not been documented before."

"Also, both studies help us to further understand the way in which American consumers are turning to the marketplace for products that promote their sexual health," Reece said.

The surveys, which were sponsored by condom manufacturer Church & Dwight Company, appear in the latest issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

SOURCE: Journal of Sexual Medicine, July 2009.

(MY078) Greenpeace activists arrested for banner on Mount Rushmore

CHICAGO (AFP) – Greenpeace activists were arrested Wednesday for scaling Mount Rushmore and hanging a banner next to the carved face of Abraham Lincoln urging President Barack Obama to get tough on climate change.

A video posted on the environmental group's website showed the massive banner hanging on the South Dakota mountain face.

Its message -- "America honors leaders not politicians: Stop Global Warming" and an unfinished portrait of Obama -- was barely visible as it was whipped by wind.

"Doing what it takes to solve global warming demands real political courage," Greenpeace USA deputy campaigns director Carroll Muffett said in a statement.

"If President Obama intends to earn a place among this country's true leaders, he needs to show that courage, and base his actions on the scientific reality rather than political convenience."

(MY077) F1 Teams Association walks out of FIA meeting

LONDON – The Formula One Teams Association has walked out of a meeting with the sport's governing body to discuss cost-cutting measures.

The FIA was to meet Wednesday with the 13 teams that have entered the 2010 F1 championship to discuss measures agreed to last month that kept FOTA from forming a breakaway series.

But there has been no agreement over a minimum weight limit or on signing a legally binding agreement to reduce costs to the level of the early 1990s.

The FIA said: "The eight FOTA teams were invited to attend the meeting to discuss their further proposals for 2010. Unfortunately no discussion was possible because FOTA walked out of the meeting."

FOTA's members are Ferrari, McLaren BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP

(MY076) Chinese troops flood streets after riots

URUMQI, China – Thousands of Chinese troops flooded into this city Wednesday to separate feuding ethnic groups after three days of communal violence left 156 people dead, and a senior Communist Party official vowed to execute those guilty of murder in the rioting in western China.

Long convoys of armored cars and green troop trucks with riot police rumbled through Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million people. Other security forces carrying automatic rifles with bayonets formed cordons to defend Muslim neighborhoods from marauding groups of vigilantes with sticks.

Military helicopters buzzed over Xinjiang's regional capital, dropping pamphlets urging people to stay in their homes and stop fighting. Special police from other provinces were called in to patrol the city.

(MY075) Ten sneaky bank fees that sting unsuspecting consumers

Here are 10 fees you especially need to keep a close eye on:

1. Overdraft. Should you unknowingly bounce a check, you could be charged a multitude of times before finding out and balancing the account. Many consumers argue that banks should deny them cash at the ATM if it's going to overdraw the account.

2. Deposit returned. If a check deposited in your account bounces, you're charged a fee. Word to the wise: accept checks only from trusted sources.

3. Checking. This is the privilege-of-using-your-own-money charge that many banks did away with years ago. But charges are starting to creep back into the system, experts warn. Consumers should not assume their checking accounts are fee-free -- or if they are, that they will continue to be infinitum. "The type of checking account to now look for is one that does not have a monthly service charge, minimum balance requirement or limit on the number of transactions you can make," says Bankrate's Mr. McBride.

4. Teller. Banks drew fire from consumers in the 1990s when they tried charging a fee if human interaction occurred when depositing or withdrawing money. There are scattered reports of these fees popping up, mostly now in the form of "excessive" use of tellers. Some banks, for example, will give you two free teller visits a month, but charge you for extras.

5. Inquiries. This is the phone version of teller fees. Make a call about your account, a question about a charge or to order a new book of checks and you could get hit with this service fee. "These are the routine fees that month after month can really have a significant impact on your bottom line," Mr. McBride says.

6. Closing accounts. Consider this a punitive fee. Many banks will charge you a fee if you close an account within 90 days -- and sometimes within six months -- of opening it.

7. Credit cards. Late fees and over-limit charges are already steep but could go higher. The new legislation will put caps on some of those fees and on how they're charged against old and new balances. But until then, expect to see them grow. Grace periods also are expected to end or be severely restricted.

8. Annual. In the early days of credit cards, issuers charged consumers a yearly fee for the right to charge. Competition drove most away, but it looks like they may make a comeback. "Read your mail," Mr. Hammer says. "If you get something from the bank, it's usually because they're making a change. Find out what it is."

9. Currency conversions. Got extra euros from a recent trip that you want converted to dollars? It will cost you. These are fees that are on an upswing too.

10. ATMs. If you use an ATM that doesn't belong to your bank or has an agreement with your bank you could get whacked twice, once by your bank and again by the ATM's owner. And the bite is getting bigger.


credit to :
YAHOO.COM

(MY074) Militant Back in Action : Two key oil pipelines blown up in Nigeria

LAGOS (AFP) – Militants in Nigeria's Niger Delta region said Wednesday they had blown up two key oil pipelines in the region operated by the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell and the Italian group Agip.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement it had blown up the lines in a pre-dawn attack in the Bayelsa state, in the Niger Delta, as part of their campaign to cripple the oil industry.