Israeli PM vows to move ahead with E-1 settlement

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israel's prime minister pledged Sunday to move ahead with construction of a new Jewish settlement in a strategic part of the West Bank, speaking just hours after Israeli troops dragged dozens of Palestinian anti-settlement activists from the area.
The activists had pitched more than two dozen tents at the site on Friday, laying claim to the land and drawing attention to Israel's internationally condemned settlement policy.
Before dawn Sunday, hundreds of Israeli soldiers removed the protesters by force, beating some, activists said. Despite the eviction, Mustafa Barghouti, one of the protest leaders, claimed success, saying the overall strategy is to "make (Israel's) occupation costly."
The planned settlement, known as E-1, would deepen east Jerusalem's separation from the West Bank, war-won areas the Palestinians want for their state. The project had been on hold for years, in part because of U.S. objections.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revived the E-1 plans late last year, in response to the Palestinians' successful bid for U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Jewish settlements are at the heart of the current, four-year impasse in Mideast peace efforts. The Palestinians have refused to negotiate while Israel continues to build settlements on the lands they claim for a future state. Netanyahu says peace talks should start without any preconditions. Netanyahu also rejects any division of Jerusalem.
Israel expanded the boundaries of east Jerusalem after the 1967 war and then annexed the area — a move not recognized by the international community. Since then, it has built a ring of Jewish settlements in the enlarged eastern sector to cement its control over the city.
E-1 would be built in the West Bank, just east of Jerusalem, and close one of the last options for Palestinians to create territorial continuity between Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem, their hoped-for capital, and the West Bank. According to building plans, E-1 would have more than 3,000 apartments.
The Palestinians say they turned to the U.N. last November out of frustration with the deadlock in peace talks. They believe the international endorsement of the 1967 lines as a future border will bolster their position in future negotiations. But Israel has accused the Palestinians of trying to bypass the negotiating process and impose a solution.
Netanyahu told Israel Army Radio on Sunday that it would take time to build E-1, citing planning procedures. Still, he said, "we will complete the planning and there will be construction."
Barghouti, one of the protest leaders, said the demonstrators pitched the tents on private Palestinian land and obtained an Israeli court injunction preventing the removal of the tents for several days. In response, Israel declared the site a closed military zone, enabling Israeli soldiers to evict the activists, he said.
When asked why the protesters were removed, Netanyahu said: "They have no reason to be there. I asked immediately to close the area so people would not gather there needlessly and generate friction and disrupt public order."
About half a million Israelis live in the dozens of settlements that dot the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Over the past 15 years, Jewish settlers have also set up dozens of rogue settlements, without formal approval, and critics say the government has done little to remove them.

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Browns introduce Rob Chudzinski as new coach

CLEVELAND (AP) — Rob Chudzinski is back for his third tour with the Cleveland Browns, and this time he's calling the shots.
Chudzinski, who spent the past two seasons as Carolina's offensive coordinator, was introduced as the club's sixth fulltime coach on Friday. He'll inherit a young roster he'll try to develop into a contender with the Browns, who have lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons.
The 44-year-old previously worked as an assistant with the Browns, most recently as offensive coordinator in 2008. Chudzinski has no previous head coaching experience, but he's familiar with the Browns and their history. He rooted for the Browns while growing up in Toledo, Ohio.
"I would not miss the chance for the world." Chudzinski said. "We're going to win here."

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Strahan, Sapp, Ogden among Hall of Fame finalists

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Single-season sacks leader Michael Strahan and two players who tried to block him are among 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Strahan, who had 22½ sacks in 2001 and 141½ for his 15-year his career with the New York Giants, is joined by offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden of the Ravens and guard-tackle Larry Allen of the Cowboys and 49ers.
The fourth first-year eligible to make the cut is defensive tackle Warren Sapp of the Buccaneers and Raiders.
Strahan, Ogden and Sapp all won Super Bowls.
The hall announced Friday that the other finalists are running back Jerome Bettis; receivers Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Andre Reed; LB-DEs Charles Haley and Kevin Greene; guard Will Shields; defensive back Aeneas Williams; coach Bill Parcells; and former owners Edward DeBartolo Jr. of the 49ers and the late Art Modell of the Browns, who moved to Baltimore in 1996 to become the Ravens.
The two senior nominees are defensive tackle Curley Culp — who played for the Chiefs, Oilers and Lions — and linebacker Dave Robinson of the Packers and Redskins.
Between four and seven new members will be selected Feb. 2, the day before the Super Bowl, in New Orleans.
Bettis played for the Rams and Steelers — he won the 2006 Super Bowl in his final game, something Strahan did in 2008. He's in his third season of eligibility and was beaten out by fellow running backs Marshall Faulk in 2011 and Curtis Martin in 2012 for the hall.
Carter, Brown and Reed all were in the top 10 in receptions when they retired. Haley won five Super Bowls, two with San Francisco and three with Dallas.
Greene was one of the first hybrid linebacker-end defenders, which best suited his pass-rushing skills.
Shields was an ironman blocker for 14 seasons in Kansas City. Williams was a versatile defensive back who played on the corner and at safety. He had 55 career interceptions and 23 fumble recoveries.

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Eager Chudzinski takes over new-look Browns

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Browns have always been a part of Rob Chudzinski's life. Now, he's the man in charge.
Chudzinski, who spent the past two seasons as Carolina's offensive coordinator, was introduced as the club's sixth fulltime coach on Friday, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the 44-year-old who as a kid pretended he played tight end for the Browns during games in his backyard in Toledo, Ohio.
"It is a dream come true," Chudzinski said. "I can't wait to get started."
Chudzinski will inherit a young roster he'll try to develop into a contender with the Browns, who have lost at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and made the playoffs only once since 1999.
Chudzinski previously worked as an assistant with the Browns, most recently as their offensive coordinator in 2008. Although he has no previous head coaching experience, owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner are confident they hired the best possible candidate available to turn their club into a consistent winner.
"I would not miss the chance for the world." Chudzinski said. "We're going to win here."
The Browns hauled their search to find the 14th coach in franchise history to Arizona and back. They talked to high-profile college coaches, NFL assistants and a fired pro coach who took a team to a Super Bowl.
None of them was hired.
Instead, Chudzinski became their pick.
"I believe we came back with the best coach for the Cleveland Browns," said Haslam, who flew to Charlotte, N.C. on Thursday night with Banner to offer Chudzinski the job. "He is one of the brightest young coaches in the business."
Chudzinski's first move will be to hire his staff. He will immediately meet with the assistants currently working for the Browns. Chudzinski would not comment on any possible candidates to become his coordinators. There are reports he is considering former San Diego coach Norv Turner to run his offense. Chudzinski worked for Turner with the Chargers.
"I have a plan in place," he said. "We're going to get a great staff. We have a young group of players. This is going to be about the process. Lots of people are worried about the end result, but this is going to be the right process to get us where we want to be."
Now that they've hired their coach, Haslam and Banner will focus on finding a new general manager to help pick players for Chudzinski, who will be involved in finding the GM.
The new coach — "Chud," as he's known to players and friends — worked with the Browns' tight ends in 2004 and was their offensive coordinator in 2007, when the team won 10 games — their most since an expansion rebirth in 1999. He was released when Romeo Crennel was fired in 2008.
Chudzinski said when he walked off the field after the final game that season he knew he would be coming back to Cleveland "someday, somehow."
Chudzinski replaces Pat Shurmur, another first-time coach when he was hired, who was fired on Dec. 31 after a 5-11 season. For the past two years, Chudzinski has worked with talented Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and resuscitated Carolina's offense, which was one of the league's worst before he arrived.
When Haslam and Banner embarked on their coaching search as 2013 began, the pair vowed they would wait as long as necessary to find "the right coach" for Cleveland. They promised to give their new coach final say over the roster and planned to pair him with an executive to help pick players.
Chudzinski wasn't seen by many as an option.
And then he became the choice.
Haslam said Chudzinski's passion for the Browns was a bonus, but he had all the credentials and characteristics they were looking for in a new coach.
"If Rob was from Plano, Texas, we would have hired him," Haslam said.
Chudzinski said he wants a team that attacks on both sides of the ball. He would not comment on any of Cleveland's players, and sidestepped a question about rookie Brandon Weeden, who had an uneven first season with the Browns.
Chudzinski interviewed with the team on Wednesday, when the club also visited with Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Chudzinski appeared to be a long shot for the job, not because he wasn't qualified, but because it was thought Haslam wanted to make a big splash with his first coaching hire.
However, Chudzinski wowed Haslam and Banner during his meeting and the team decided it was time to end its search in its second week. Haslam said 10 minutes into the interview that he nodded at Banner that they had found their man.
In his first season in Carolina, Chudzinski turned Newton, the No. 1 overall draft pick, loose and the Panthers set club records for total yards (6,237) and first downs (345). Carolina also scored 48 touchdowns after getting just 17 in the season before Chudzinski arrived. The Panthers jumped from last in the league in total yardage to seventh, the biggest improvement since 1999.
Haslam pointed out the Panthers scored 88 touchdowns the past two seasons. Cleveland scored 44.
Following last season, Chudzinski interviewed for head coaching jobs with St. Louis, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay before returning to Carolina.
In getting the Browns' job, Chudzinski was picked over Zimmer, Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman, fired Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt and Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton. Whisenhunt was in Cleveland for a second interview on Thursday, and appeared to be the front-runner. The Browns also were expected to interview Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.
Chudzinski's hiring may have shocked some Cleveland fans, many of whom at fantasies about Nick Saban or Jon Gruden or Kelly brining his supersonic offense to the NFL.
But his selection is in keeping with at least one of Banner's past moves. When he was in Philadelphia's front office, Banner went outside the box and hired Green Bay assistant Andy Reid, a relative unknown who spent 14 seasons with the Eagles.

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Kuwait sentences second man to jail for insulting emir: lawyer

DUBAI (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for insulting the country's ruler on Twitter, his lawyer said, the second person to be jailed for the offence in as many days.
The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has clamped down in recent months on political activists who have been using social media websites to criticize the government and the ruling family.
Kuwait has seen a series of opposition-organized protests, including one on Sunday night, since the ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, used emergency powers in October to change the voting system.
The court sentenced Ayyad al-Harbi, who has more than 13,000 followers on Twitter, to the prison term two months after his arrest and release on bail.
Harbi used his Twitter account to criticize the Kuwait government and the emir. He tweeted on Sunday: "Tomorrow morning is my trial's verdict on charges of slander against the emir, spreading of false news."
His lawyer, Mohammed al-Humidi, said Harbi would appeal.
"We've been taken by surprise because Kuwait has always been known internationally and in the Arab world as a democracy-loving country," Humidi told Reuters. "People are used to democracy, but suddenly we see the constitution being undermined."
On Sunday, another man, Rashid Saleh al-Anzi was given two years in prison over a tweet that "stabbed the rights and powers of the emir", according to the online newspaper Alaan. Anzi, who has 5,700 Twitter followers, was expected to appeal.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department said it had seen the reports of the two men's sentences and had raised the issue with the Kuwaiti government, which it urged to respect freedom of speech.
"We call on the government of Kuwait to adhere to its tradition of respect for freedom of assembly, association, and expression," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "You know how strongly we feel about locking people up for their use of Twitter."
Kuwait, a major oil producer, has been taking a firmer line on politically sensitive comments aired on the Internet.
In June 2012, a man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of endangering state security by insulting the Prophet Mohammad and the Sunni Muslim rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on social media.
Two months later, authorities detained Sheikh Meshaal al-Malik Al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, over remarks on Twitter in which he accused authorities of corruption and called for political reform, a rights activist said.
Public demonstrations about local issues are common in Kuwait, a state that allows the most dissent in the Gulf, and the country has avoided Arab Spring-style mass unrest that has ousted four veteran Arab dictators in the past two years.
But tensions have risen between Kuwait's hand-picked government, in which ruling family members hold the top posts, and the elected parliament and opposition groups.

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European businesses slow to go online: study

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European businesses are not doing enough to use the internet to grow their customer base and promote products, Belgian database and marketing firm Email-Brokers said after studying 13 million websites.
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have the highest proportion of companies online but even in these countries 40 percent of business have no internet presence, it found.
The European Commission has estimated that companies which exploit the full potential of the internet create, on average, more than twice as many jobs.
"It is one of the ways to create employment and economic growth and it is not Star Trek, it exists today," Email-Brokers head William Vande Wiele said.
Britain and Liechtenstein were the most advanced in terms of e-commerce - defined as being able to process orders and payments, with 16 percent and 17 percent, respectively, of business sites offering it, compared with 6 percent in Belgium and 9 percent in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.
Vande Wiele said many corporate websites were badly designed, and did not provide basics such as adequate contact information or company details.
In Belgium, 91 percent of all corporate websites did not meet such basic standards, compared with about 20 percent in Luxembourg and France, the study concluded.
"Sites which do not comply with such minimum standards do not inspire confidence and before buying something online a user will need a minimum level of confidence," Vande Wiele said.
Many websites are not kept up to date, the study also found, with more than 80 percent of business sites in Belgium, Greece, Italy and Spain not updated for more than a year.

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Target to match some rivals' online prices year-round

(Reuters) - Target Corp said on Tuesday it will match on a year-round basis the prices found on the websites of key rivals Amazon.com Inc, Best Buy Co Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Toys R Us, its latest tactic to hold onto shoppers focused on price.
The move extends an online price-matching program that Target introduced over the holiday season and which was supposed to last only from November 1 to December 16. It also comes after Target last week reported flat sales growth in December at stores open at least a year.
"I think this is largely symbolic, it's akin to removing the Kindle from their stores," said Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer, referring to Target's decision to stop selling Amazon's tablet devices last year.
In November, Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel said Target was not seeing a lot of price-match activity in its stores.
"It's not likely to have a huge impact on financials or customer behavior," said Nemer, who noted that customers are not likely to go to Target's guest services desk for a refund for just a small difference in price.
Also, much of what Target sells, such as apparel and accessories, is exclusive to the store, so there would be no comparable prices from competitors.
But Target will now also match prices year-round from its own website in its stores.
Nemer called that "a really important step," saying it removes confusion for customers who sometimes see different prices for products such as televisions in stores and online.
While shopping online has grown rapidly in recent years, it still represents a small fraction of overall shopping in the United States. Target's policy of matching online prices differs from policies at several chains, which match only printed advertised prices for items sold at stores.
Target said that throughout the year it will match the price when a customer buys an eligible item at one of its stores and finds the same item at a lower price in the following week's Target circular or in a local competitor's printed ad. It will also match the price if the customer finds the same item at a lower price within a week on Target's website or the websites of Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Toys R Us.
Amazon says it offers competitive prices and does not offer price matching when an item's price drops after a customer buys it, with the exception of televisions. Walmart matches the prices of print ads from competitors and said it has no plans to change its policy. Walmart also says it checks the prices of 30,000 items at competing chains each week to make sure it has the lowest prices.
Best Buy matches the price from a local competitor's store, a local Best Buy store or its own web site. Toys R Us matches in-store prices and certain online prices.
Shares of Target were down 60 cents at $60.70 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Ethiopia Dec inflation falls yr/yr, at lowest for 2012

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian inflation dropped in December to 12.9 percent year-on-year, its lowest rate of 2012, official data showed on Wednesday.
The government had targeted single-digit inflation in 2012, something it now hopes to achieve this year.
Inflation, which has been billed by the IMF as the country's biggest economic challenge, peaked at 36.3 percent last February, and has steadily declined due to rising agricultural output and government subsidies on a number of food items.
Last month's year-on-year inflation fell to 12.9 percent from 15.6 percent in November, according to the Central Statistics Agency.
It said the consumer price index actually fell 0.7 percent month-on-month in December after a 0.5 percent drop in November.
The agency said food price inflation fell to 11.8 percent year-on-year in December, down from 13.4 percent in November. The non-food inflation rate also dropped to 14.6 percent in December from 19.4 percent the previous month.
The International Monetary Fund has said inflation is the biggest challenge facing policymakers in the Horn of Africa country, which has however registered one of the world's highest economic growth rates for the last few years.
Ethiopia's economy is expected to maintain a growth rate of 11 percent in 2012/2013, the seventh consecutive fiscal year of growth, according to senior officials.
High coffee earnings in the past few years have boosted the economy of Africa's biggest coffee producer, as have rising gold, oil seed and livestock exports.

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Sudan says secures $1.5 bln loan from China as it battles currency slide

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Sudan has secured a $1.5 billion loan guaranteed by Chinese state oil firm China National Petroleum Corp, its finance minister said, throwing a lifeline to the African country battling its worst economic crisis for decades.
Sudanese Finance Minister Ali Mahmoud said the loan, agreed on December 31, would come from a Chinese bank, which he declined to identify. It comes at a crucial time for Sudan which has been unable to stop a slide in its currency since losing three-quarters of its oil production when South Sudan seceded in 2011.
Oil was the main revenue source for the budget and for dollars needed to buy basic food imports such as wheat and sugar.
China is the country's biggest trading partner apart from Gulf Arab oil producers and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), which was not immediately available to comment, is the biggest investor in the oil industry in Sudan and South Sudan.
Sudan has avoided an "Arab spring" revolution that toppled the rulers of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya but annual inflation running at 46.5 percent in November has sparked small protests against the government.
"The $1.5 billion loan will be used to bridge the fiscal gap and enhance our balance of payments," Mahmoud told Reuters in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
He said the loan would help stabilise the Sudanese pound which has more than halved in value on the key black market since southern secession in July 2011.
In July, Sudan devalued the official dollar exchange rate to around 4.4 pounds to end a differential with the black market rate. But the pound fell further, to 7 pounds to the dollar in December on the black market, which has become the reference for import firms as the central bank struggles to supply dollars.
CHINA INTEREST
China has stayed out of recent tensions between both African countries which came close to war in April. But Beijing has an interest in Sudan overcoming its crisis given that it has been the biggest buyer of South Sudanese oil which has to be exported through Sudan.
Landlocked South Sudan shut down its output of 350,000 barrels a day a year ago after failing to agree with Sudan over export fees. Both countries now plan to resume cross-border flows but need to secure their disputed border first.
CNPC is also helping Sudan to boost its own oil production, last estimated by the oil ministry at almost 140,000 bpd, but the output only serves domestic consumption.
An oil industry source said CNPC, China's biggest oil and gas producer, had done some exploration work in Sudan's Red Sea but had not found it promising in terms of reserves.
Sudan has been expanding exports of minerals and agriculture products to offset the loss of oil revenues. It has forecast it would sell $2.5 billion worth of gold last year, up from $1.5 billion in 2011. China is also a big player in the gold industry.
"With most of our oil exports gone, we are enhancing agricultural products exports. This year we are expecting to export edible oil and will cut imports of sugar by half," Mahmoud said.
Last year, Sudan opened a new sugar factory, funded by Gulf countries, to lower its dependency on imports. But analysts are sceptical the country will be able to expand its agricultural exports soon due to mismanagement, outdated technology and corruption. Much of Sudan's food needs come from abroad.
Mahmoud spoke after the signing ceremony for a $45 million loan for Sudan from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), a pan-Arab fund based in Abu Dhabi. Since 1997 the fund has granted Sudan $650 million in total, including the latest loan.

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Obama aide presses Republicans to accept more tax revenues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress should accept in the next round of deficit-reduction talks that revenue from taxes must be raised further if it expects President Barack Obama to sign off on a deal, the president's top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said in an interview.
The White House and Congress are trying to reach an agreement that would delay planned austerity measures and keep funding the government, while at the same time cutting the budget deficit over the long term.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has ruled out raising revenues as part of any deal, but Sperling said a significant chunk must come from higher taxes.
"The president is not suggesting that in this next round of deficit reduction it all be on revenues," Sperling said in an interview taped on Tuesday with Reuters TV's "Impact Players."
"He's just suggesting that we continue to do it in a balanced way so that our overall agreement really is about two dollars in spending cuts for every dollar in revenue."
Republicans and Democrats reached a deal last week to soften an austerity package scheduled to kick in at the beginning of the year that may have pushed the economy back into recession.
However the deal only postponed by two months some of the harshest measures: across-the-board spending cuts in areas like defense and education. Also, a temporary budget measure expires in March and failure to extend it could mean another government shutdown like brief ones in 1995 and 1996.
Some Republicans are insisting deficit-reduction talks now be linked to a debate over granting the Treasury authority to borrow more money.
On December 31, the Treasury hit the $16.4 trillion limit on the amount of borrowing that is authorized by Congress, and the United States will default on its debt within a few months unless the debt ceiling is raised.
Sperling lashed out at Republicans for using the debt limit as a bargaining chip.
"We can fight, we can argue, but neither of us should put a gun to the country's head," Sperling said in the interview with Reuters' Robert Wolf, who advises Obama as a member of the president's jobs council and is a former CEO of UBS Americas.
AN ODD PRACTICE
The United States has the odd practice of authorizing government borrowing in a two-stage process, with Congress first drafting plans to spend more than it raises in tax revenues.
Then, typically every few years, lawmakers raise the debt ceiling to accommodate annual deficits.
Obama has said flatly that he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling, arguing that Congress must pay the bills for spending it has already approved.
Last week, the government allowed taxes to rise on most workers by allowing a two-year payroll tax holiday to expire. And in a substantial compromise by Republicans, the deal also raised income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans while keeping them steady for households making less than $450,000 a year.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, deficit- reduction group, believes that deal will lower the deficit and come pretty close to stabilizing the debt burden over the next ten years, although not in the longer term.
Sperling sketched out the broad outline of a possible deficit-reduction deal that would involve higher taxes along with spending cuts on social welfare programs, including the federal health insurance program for the elderly and the Social Security pension plan. In Washington these programs are called "entitlements."
Sperling pointed out that Republicans have already expressed willingness to allow taxes to rise on wealthy Americans by eliminating exemptions rather than by raising rates.
"There certainly is significant room for more revenues that are related to things that Republicans have agreed to or proposed," said Sperling, who is the director of Obama's National Economic Council.
He noted that Obama already has floated the idea of reducing the ability of rich people to write off mortgage interest payments from their tax bills.
"That's the type of thing that could be paired with very serious entitlement reform to have the next step of deficit reduction," Sperling said.

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