The Fastest (and Slowest) Growing U.S. Cities

Bloomberg Rankings identified the 10 U.S. cities with more than 300,000 residents that had the greatest population gains and losses from 2010 to July 1, 2011. We ranked the cities (in ascending order) on their percentage change in population.

The average population growth for U.S. cities with more than 300,000 residents was 1.5 percent during this period. The 10 fastest-growing cities expanded by an average 3.1 percent—which, in the case of Austin, Tex., meant an additional 30,221 residents. The 10 cities on the rise also had an average unemployment rate of 8.0 percent, just shy of the national rate of 8.1 percent, and a foreclosure rate of 0.16 percent, slightly higher than the 0.15 percent national average. The 10 cities at the bottom of the list averaged only 0.1 percent growth, and four of them declined in population from 2010 to 2011. They had an average unemployment rate of 8.4 percent and a foreclosure rate of 0.19 percent, both well above the national rates.

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Indonesia arrests 11 people suspected of planning terror attacks on US, Australian embassies

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian police say they have arrested 11 people suspected of planning a range of terrorist attacks on domestic and foreign targets including the U.S. and Australian embassies.

National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Suhardi Aliyus says the suspects were arrested by an anti-terror squad in raids Friday night in four provinces.

He said Saturday that police also seized bombs, explosive materials and a bomb-making manual.

He said the newly formed group had plans to target the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and a plaza near the Australian Embassy and the local office of U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoRan. Aliyus said they also planned to attack the U.S. Consulate in Surabaya and the headquarters of a police special force in Central Java.

It was unclear how far the plans had advanced.

Australia / Antarctica News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Apple’s Apology to Samsung Is More of a Diss than an Apology

Apple isn’t taking its loss to Samsung in U.K. court like an adult, using its enforced apology as another place to mock its gadget-making rival. The iPhone maker did its due diligence, posting a sorry-note on the Internet in 14 pt Arial Font, as instructed. But after writing the requisite “Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001,” the rest of it reads as if Apple doesn’t really think that’s true. The thing reaks of sore loser. In the next two graph’s Apple quotes the U.K. judge’s decision, which outlined the beauty of Apple’s design, calling it too cool to be mistaken for a Galaxy. “They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.” An obvious diss to Samsung, which only won on a hip-factor technicality. After that, the post ends with the iMaker noting that other judges found Samsung at fault, so, really, Samsung’s still a copy-cat.

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.

And that’s how Apple turned its punishment lemons into sweet mockery flavored lemonade. 

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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USA expands reality slate with ‘Partners in Crime,’ ‘All In,’ ‘The Cowboy Way’

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – The USA Network has expanded its reality slate by ordering the new reality legal show “Partners in Crime” to series and the gaming show “All In” to pilot. It is also developing “The Cowboy Way,” about life on a cattle ranch.

“Partners in Crime” is expected to debut next year, along with previously announced scripted series “The Moment” and “The Choir.” Another show, “Bride or Best Man,” will begin production on a pilot next month.

“Our approach to reality storytelling is to showcase a broad spectrum of life’s real characters,” said Heather Olander, senior vice president of alternative programming. “By partnering with these reality heavyweights, whose distinct voices have influenced the genre, we are offering audiences a new reason to engage with USA.”

“Partners in Crime” is a docu-soap featuring colorful defense attorneys Mario Gallucci and his partner, Big Lou Gelormino. it is produced by Peacock Productions.”All In” follows handicapper Brandon Lang as he knocks on families’ doors with a suitcase full of money and invites them to place a series of bets. It is produced by Studio Lambert, with Brian Graden (“South Park”) and Lois Curren (“The Osbournes,” “Punk’d”) serving as executive producers.

“The Cowboy Way” follows men and women working a Texas ranch during a miserable drought. It is produced by Raw TV (“Gold Rush: Alaska”).

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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FDA finds contaminants in drug linked to meningitis

(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it found “greenish black foreign matter” and other contaminants in an injectable steroid produced by the New England Compounding Center, the pharmacy at the heart of a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak.

It also found that vials from the same bin of the steroid contained what appeared to be a “white filamentous material,” according to the report released by the FDA following inspections of the facility in October.

Massachusetts health regulators said earlier this week that they had turned up evidence of problematic procedures, record-keeping and work conditions inside the pharmacy facility.

The pharmacy is being investigated for its role in the meningitis outbreak, which has killed 25 people and infected hundreds who received injections of its preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate, a steroid used for back pain and other conditions.

The FDA report also said that NECC’s environmental monitoring program found bacteria and mold in two “clean rooms” between January 2012 and September 2012. The rooms are used in the production of sterile drug products.

(Reporting By Toni Clarke and Caroline Humer; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Steve Orlofsky)

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Bank of Canada’s Carney says rate hikes will be gradual

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada will take care not to raise interest rates too rapidly when the time comes because of risks to the economy from challenges in the United States and Europe, Governor Mark Carney said in an interview released on Thursday.

Carney said on Wednesday that the need to hike rates in Canada was “less imminent,” but stuck to his message that the next move would be up, not down, in contrast to the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks.

The Canadian economy has fully recovered from the 2008-09 recession and is expected to grow at a little more than 2 percent through to 2014, justifying an eventual rate hike, but global headwinds remain a threat to the trade-dependent country.

“There’s no question that what we will do, taking all these factors together, is manage policy so that interest rates rise at an appropriate pace,” Carney told Sun News Network in an interview to be broadcast Thursday at 6 p.m. (2200 GMT).

He said the bank would also try to avoid creating a shock for the 10 percent of Canadian households who are vulnerable to a sudden change in borrowing costs because of their excessive debt load.

“It’s not in our interest to do anything too abruptly either on the upside or the downside,” he said. “We’re well aware of the risks on that side of things.”

The bank is expected to hold its benchmark overnight rate at 1.0 percent until the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll of Canada‘s primary securities dealers conducted on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Louise Egan; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Canada News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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