New study: Infants receiving the most vaccines are the most likely to be hospitalized and die

December 24, 2012 
by: Neil Z. Miller
Source: Natural News

(NaturalNews) A new study, published in Human and Experimental Toxicology, a peer-reviewed journal indexed by the National Library of Medicine, analyzed more than 38,000 reports of infant hospitalizations and deaths following vaccinations.[1] Researchers found statistically significant correlations between the number of vaccine doses administered to infants and infant hospitalization and mortality rates: babies who receive the most vaccines tend to have higher (worse) hospitalization and death rates.

Infants who received 2 vaccines simultaneously were significantly less likely to be hospitalized than infants who received 3 or more vaccines at the same time. Infants who received 3 vaccines simultaneously were significantly less likely to be hospitalized than infants who received 4 or more vaccines at the same time. Babies who received 6, 7, or 8 vaccines during a single pediatric well-baby visit were the most likely to be hospitalized following their injections. In fact, the hospitalization rate increased linearly from 11.0% for infants receiving 2 vaccine doses to 23.5% for infants receiving 8 vaccine doses.

The authors of the study, Dr. Gary Goldman and Neil Z. Miller, also discovered that younger infants were significantly more likely to be hospitalized after receiving vaccinations than older infants. In addition, infants who received 5-8 vaccines simultaneously were significantly more likely to die following their shots than infants who received 1-4 vaccines simultaneously.

Several factors could contribute to whether an infant will have an adverse reaction to vaccines, including a genetic predisposition, illness (which may be a contraindication to vaccine administration), quality of vaccines (which can vary by manufacturing methods), and sensitivity to one or more vaccine components. Some infants might be more likely to experience an adverse reaction due to biochemical or synergistic toxicity associated with concurrent administration of multiple vaccines.


In 1990, infants received a total of 15 vaccine doses prior to their first year of life. By 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended 26 vaccine doses for infants: 3 DTaP, 3 polio, 3 Hib, 3 hepatitis B, 3 pneumococcal, 3 rotavirus, and 2 influenza vaccines.

The CDC's Childhood Immunization Schedule Was Not Tested for Safety, Lacks Scientific Veracity:

While each childhood vaccine has individually undergone clinical trials to assess safety, studies have not been conducted to determine the safety (or efficacy) of combining vaccines during a single physician visit as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) guidelines. For example, 2-, 4-, and 6-month-old infants are expected to receive vaccines for polio, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, rotavirus, Haemophilus influenzae type B, and pneumococcal, all during a single well-baby visit -- even though this combination of 8 vaccines was never tested in clinical trials.

Although the CDC's recommended childhood immunization schedule a) requires infants to receive up to 8 vaccines simultaneously, b) affects millions of infants annually, and c) was never scientifically tested for safety, the CDC had prior knowledge that combining chemical substances, including prescribed pharmaceuticals, "can produce health consequences that are additive, synergistic, antagonistic, or can potentiate the response expected from individual component exposures."[2]

Administering 6, 7, or 8 vaccine doses to an infant during a single physician visit may certainly be more convenient for parents -- rather than making additional trips to the doctor's office -- but evidence of a positive association between infant adverse reactions and the number of vaccine doses administered confirms that vaccine safety must remain the highest priority.


The findings in this study show a positive correlation between the number of vaccine doses administered and the percentage of hospitalizations and deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). (The VAERS database is an important postmarketing safety surveillance tool that is periodically analyzed by the CDC, FDA, and other vaccine researchers to discover potentially adverse vaccination trends.) In addition, younger infants were significantly more likely than older infants to be hospitalized or die after receiving vaccines. These trends not only have a biological plausibility but are supported by evidence from case reports, case series, and other studies using entirely different methodologies and unique population cohorts. For example, in 2011, Miller and Goldman collaborated on another study showing that among developed nations infant mortality increased with an increase in the number of vaccine doses.[3]

Since vaccines are given to millions of infants annually, it is imperative that health authorities have scientific data from synergistic toxicity studies on all combinations of vaccines that infants might receive. Finding ways to increase vaccine safety should be the highest priority.

You may download the complete study here: Goldman-Miller Vaccine Study (PDF) or here: Goldman-Miller Vaccine Study

Funding Acknowledgment: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) donated $2500 for open access to the journal article (making it freely available to all researchers). NVIC is dedicated to preventing vaccine injuries and deaths through public education.


References:

1. Relative trends in hospitalizations and mortality among infants by the number of vaccine doses and age, based on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 1990-2010. Hum Exp Toxicol October 2012; 31(10): 1012-1021.

2. Mixed exposures research agenda: a report by the NORA Mixed Exposures Team. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); DHHS (NIOSH) 2004. December 2005. p.106: vi.

3. Infant mortality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity? Hum Exp Toxicol September 2011; 30(9): 1420-1428. [Read this study here: Miller-Goldman Vaccine Study (PubMed)]

About the author:
Neil Z. Miller is a medical research journalist and the Director of the Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute. He has devoted the last 25 years to educating parents and health practitioners about vaccines, encouraging informed consent and non-mandatory laws. He is the author of several books on vaccines, including 
Vaccine Safety Manual for Concerned Families and Health Practitioners; Make an Informed Vaccine Decision for the Health of Your Child (with Dr. Mayer Eisenstein); and Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective? Past organizations that he has lectured for include the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, the International College of Integrative Medicine, Autism One/Generation Rescue, the Hahnemann Academy of North America, and Dr. Gabriel Cousens' Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. Mr. Miller is a frequent guest on radio and TV talk shows, has a degree in psychology, and is a member of Mensa.



Learnmorehttp://www.naturalnews.com/038457_vaccine_injuries_infant_deaths_scientific_study.html#ixzz2MC7L2d1L

Egypt election to begin April 28: adviser

47 minutes ago
By Marwa Awad and Yasmine Saleh | Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will call a parliamentary election starting April 28, a presidential legal adviser told Reuters on Thursday, saying the vote would be held in four stages.

Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood backers hope the election will mark an end to a turbulent political transition punctuated by spasms of violence that have thwarted his efforts to revive an economy in deep crisis.

But the vote will take place in a country more divided than ever between Islamist parties that have come out on top in all the elections held since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 and a more secular-minded opposition that has struggled to organize.

Earlier in the day the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, adopted an electoral law as amended by the Constitutional Court, clearing the way for Mursi to set a date for the lower house election.

"Parliamentary elections for 2013 will begin on April 28, over four stages," Mohamed Gadallah, a legal adviser to Mursi, told Reuters. A presidential source had earlier told Reuters Mursi would call the election starting in April.

The vote would be held in phases in different regions because of a shortage of poll supervisors. The last lower house election, which was won by Islamists, lasted from late November 2011 until January the following year.

Mursi had been expected to ratify the electoral law by February 25. The lower house was dissolved last year after the court ruled the original law used to elect it was unfair.

The new chamber is likely to have to decide on tough economic measures that the International Monetary Fund is demanding in return for a $4.8 billion loan which Egypt needs to tackle an economic crisis.

On Monday the Constitutional Court demanded changes to five articles of the revised electoral law. The Shura Council accepted this ruling and adopted the legislation without a vote on Thursday.

"The decision of the Constitutional Court is binding and we have no right to vote on it. It must be carried out," said Ahmed Fahmy, the Council's speaker.

The new law bars members of parliament from changing their political affiliation once elected. Under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, independents were often cajoled into joining the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which monopolized parliament and political life before the 2011 revolution.

The law also stipulates that one third of the lower house should be designated for independents and bans former members of the now defunct NDP from participating in politics for at least 10 years.

(Editing by David Stamp, Tom Perry and Michael Roddy)

Euro, shares fall as euro zone recession deepens

1 hr 6 mins ago
By Marc Jones | Reuters 
Source: Yahoo News

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro and shares fell sharply on Thursday after data showed the euro zone's two biggest economies shrank even more than expected late last year, throwing a first quarter regional recovery into doubt.

The German economy contracted 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012, marking its worst performance since the global financial crisis was raging in 2009. Exports, normally the motor of its economy, did most of the damage.

Overall the euro zone's 17-country economy shrank 0.6 percent, with France's 0.3 percent fall slightly worse than forecast.

Germany is expected to rebound but the figures suggest the bloc as a whole could remain in recession in the first quarter of this year, despite a recent jump in market sentiment as fears that the currency bloc could fall apart faded.

"These are horrible numbers. It's a widespread contraction, which does not match this positive picture of stabilization and positive contagion," said Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING.

The data pushed the euro down 0.9 percent to $1.3324, its lowest in three weeks. European shares likewise fell, with Frankfurt <.gdaxi> and Milan <.ftmib> losing more than 1 percent. Paris <.fchi> and London <.ftse> also suffered heavy drops, and the FTSEurofirst 300 index was 0.4 percent lower.

"We still expect growth to return in the course of 2013 but any return of growth will be very small which means that the social impact of this recession, especially in the peripheral countries, will be still a very severe one," Brzeski added.

German bonds rose as demand for traditional safe-haven assets returned. Bund futures were 55 ticks higher on the day at 142.60, having extended gains after Italian GDP figures also came in weak.

Italy, which holds parliamentary elections in just over a week, suffered its sixth successive quarterly fall in GDP - this time a sharp 0.9 percent - putting it into a longer recession than it suffered during the crisis of 2008/2009.

Italian bond yields rose 3 basis points on the day to 4.42 percent while those on the Spanish equivalent were 2.5 basis points higher at 5.23 percent.

YEN STEADIES

U.S. stock index futures also pointed to a lower open on Wall Street when trading resumes. <.n>

While European shares are down almost 1.5 percent since late January, the U.S. S&P 500 <.spx> index hit a five-year high this week, underscoring the better growth forecasts for the world's largest economy.

Data from the European Central Bank also weighed on Europe as one of its quarterly surveys showed professional forecasters now see no growth in the euro zone this year, having last quarter expected a modest 0.3 percent rise.

The pain is not just in Europe. Japan - under pressure over its aggressive monetary and fiscal policies which are driving down the yen - reported earlier that its GDP shrank 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, leaving it in recession and crushing expectations of a modest return to growth.

The yen steadied after swinging wildly this week following a muddled warning on currencies from the G7 nations on Tuesday. It slipped against the dollar but gained on the euro after the Bank of Japan announced, as expected, that it would keep the pace of asset purchases and interest rates unchanged.

The dollar traded at 93.35 yen, roughly flat on the day and off its recent lows of 92.83 yen but still well below a 33-month high of 94.46 set on Monday. The euro was down 0.8 percent at 124.50 yen.

The yen's recent rapid depreciation, after years of sharp appreciation, has drawn some criticism from overseas, with rhetoric heating up before a Group of 20 nations meeting on Friday and Saturday in Moscow.

"Usually the BOJ doing nothing causes a bit of disappointment, but since there are concerns about the flak Japan might get at the G20 this weekend for the weakening yen, standing pat will actually be a relief to the market," said Masayuki Doshida, senior market analyst at Rakuten Securities.

IRAN TENSIONS

In commodity markets, oil prices dropped back under $118 a barrel after the GDP data from the euro zone, although the falls were limited by fresh tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog said it had again failed to clinch a deal in talks with Iran on investigating the country's nuclear program.

"All the discussions about Iran are keeping oil high while it looks like China and the U.S. are growing, which is further supporting prices," Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, analyst at Copenhagen-based Global Risk Management, said.

Markets in China and Taiwan remain shut for the Lunar New Year holiday but Hong Kong resumed trading on Thursday. Metals markets were quiet as a result. Copper hit a 4-month high of $8,346 a tonne on February 4, but has since struggled to find momentum with the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed this week.

Gold, which has been at five-week lows this week, regained some strength, holding at $1,642.50 an ounce as recent losses started to draw buying interest.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by David Stamp)

Euro zone economy falls deeper than expected into recession

 2 hrs 3 mins ago
By Philip Blenkinsop and Annika Breidthardt | Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The euro zone slipped deeper than expected into recession in the last three months of 2012 after its largest economies, Germany and France, shrank at the end of a wretched year for the region.

It marked the currency bloc's first full year in which no quarter produced growth, extending back to 1995. For the year as a whole, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.5 percent

Economic output in the 17-country region fell by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, EU statistics office Eurostat said on Thursday, following a 0.1 percent output drop in the third.

The quarter-on-quarter drop was the steepest since the first quarter of 2009 and more severe than the average forecast of a 0.4 percent drop in a Reuters poll of 61 economists.

Within the zone, only Estonia and Slovakia grew in the last quarter of the year, although there are no figures available yet for Ireland, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia.

The big economies set the tone.

Germany contracted by 0.6 percent on the quarter, official data showed, marking its worst performance since the global financial crisis was raging in 2009.

France's 0.3 percent fall was also slightly worse than expectations.

Worryingly for Berlin, it was export performance - the motor of its economy - that did most of the damage, declining significantly more than imports, although economists expect it to bounce back quickly.

The euro hit a session low against the dollar after the weaker than forecast German reading and dropped again after the release of full euro zone figures.

Back revisions to the French figures showed its output fell by 0.1 percent in each of the first and second quarters of 2012, meaning the country has already experienced one bout of recession in the last twelve months.

While the European Central Bank's pledge to do whatever it takes to save the euro has taken the heat out of the bloc's debt crisis, even its stronger members are gripped by an economic malaise that could push debt-cutting drives off track.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that weak growth was putting his government's deficit goal for 2013 out of reach.

Resilient Germany is expected to rebound and the bloc as a whole is expected to have improved in the first quarter, as suggested by a pick-up of factory orders in December, but it is not yet clear if growth has returned.

Nick Kounis, economist at ABN AMRO, said the decline of fears the euro could break apart and cheap credit had sown the seeds for the recovery.

"However, ongoing severe budget cuts, rising unemployment, bank deleveraging all point to the recovery being excruciatingly slow," he said, adding the strong euro was also a threat.

The ECB has a wide-ranging projection for euro zone GDP growth in 2013 of between -0.9 and +0.3 percent. ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio said on Tuesday he expected no major change to the forecasts in March.

WEAK PERIPHERY

Dutch GDP dropped 0.2 percent over the quarter, keeping it in recession, and the Austrian economy shrank at the same rate.

For the more embattled members of the currency bloc, matters are worse. The greatest reported decline was in bailed-out Portugal, down 1.8 percent.

Italy suffered its sixth successive quarterly fall in GDP - this time by a sharp 0.9 percent - putting it into a longer slump than it suffered in 2008/2009.

Its recession has been deepened by austerity measures that outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti introduced to stave off a debt crisis.

With an election due on February 24/25, all sides in a three-way race between Monti's centrist bloc, Pier Luigi Bersani's center-left coalition and Silvio Berlusconi's center-right are pledging to cut taxes to try to kickstart economic growth.

Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, released figures two weeks ago which showed it remained deep in recession after a 0.7 percent contraction in the fourth quarter.

Madrid is also pressing on with austerity measures to cut its debt but may be given more time to meet its deficit targets by the European Commission if its economy worsens further.

There are signs that countries like Spain are starting to benefit from internal devaluations - marked by wage falls and job losses aimed at making companies leaner and more productive.

The ECB predicts the euro zone will pick up later in the year although its currency, if it keeps strengthening, could quickly snuff out any of those hard-won competitive advantages for its high debt members.

More recent data for January have already suggested some upturn in the first months of 2013, in the bloc's stronger members at least, and if improvement comes it is expected to be seen in Germany first.

(Additional reporting by Steve Scherer, Vicky Buffery, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Ethan Bilby, writing by Mike Peacock, editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

Egypt Islamists say clerics must approve IMF loan

Feb 12, 2013
By Tom Perry | Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

Comment:  In Islam usury of any amount is totally unacceptable. Anyone, anyone who is involved in usury in any way, to any degree is an enemy of The Creator.  No Muslim country in any way should be involved in usury.  If  I was involved in writing a constitution for a Muslim country I would insist that it would ban all usury of any amount.  Some liberal Egyptians may think that the new constitution is Islamic. I have news for everyone, the new Egyptian constitution is far from being Islamic!  What the new Egyptian constitution is, is a product of compromise between:  "Islamists", Christians and Liberals.  I am upset with both President Morsi and the Egyptian Government for acting like they want to get a loan from the IMF. I  think that it is stupid of them.  Both provision and security are with Allah.  Any involvement with the IMF is provoking Allah's anger. Yet this government which is led by President Morsi is insisting on being involved with the IMF.  President Morsi is my brother in Allah, yet he is involving himself and Egypt in something which he should understand is dangerous. Why is it dangerous? Because anyone who involves themselves in usury is an enemy of The Creator. That is why!

Here is the article:
"CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's main hardline Islamist party says an IMF loan agreement requires the approval of a body of Muslim scholars under the new constitution and it is considering legal action to make sure the government sticks to the law.

The case could set a marker on the extent to which clerics will have a say over state affairs according to the Islamist-tinged constitution that was signed into law in December following its approval in a referendum.

The Salafist Nour Party says the loan agreement, seen as vital to easing a deep economic crisis, must be approved by a body of senior scholars at Al-Azhar, a religious institution whose new role is embedded in the constitution.

Such a challenge could complicate the Muslim Brotherhood-led administration's effort to finalize the International Monetary Fund deal that was tentatively agreed last year but shelved following political unrest in Cairo.

Abdullah Badran, head of the Nour Party's bloc in the upper house of parliament, told Reuters the move was intended to "activate the role of the Senior Scholars' Authority in all matters pertaining to sharia (Islamic law)". He said the party was studying its legal options.

The Nour Party believes the IMF agreement must be vetted by the scholars because it includes a loan on which Egypt will pay interest - something that is forbidden under Islamic law.

The constitution states that the opinion of Al-Azhar's Senior Scholars' Authority must be sought "on matters pertaining to Islamic sharia". It does not say whether their opinion is binding on government nor make clear the scope of Al-Azhar's role.

The article is one of several written into the constitution by the Islamist-dominated committee that finalized the document in December, fast-tracking it into law despite the objections of liberals, leftists, feminists and Christians, among others.

The party has previously signaled it would not oppose such a loan on principle, citing arguments that allow Muslims flexibility in interpreting Islamic law when they have no alternative or face severe conditions.

The interest on any IMF loan is expected to be around 1.1 percent, far below market rates.

Badran said the party's main concern was to make the government apply the new constitution. "There are many reasons which must be researched for either taking the loan or not," he said.

"Our request is that the opinion of the Senior Scholars' Association be taken, on this agreement or other agreements (related to sharia)," he said.

The government has said IMF negotiators are due in Cairo soon to complete talks on the loan agreement, which would require Egypt to agree to a set of economic reforms including tax increases and cuts in subsidy spending.

Many economists, however, believe final ratification of the agreement could be pushed back to mid-year as the politicians try to avoid upsetting voters ahead of parliamentary elections due in April.

(Editing by Paul Taylor)"

What countries have banned GMO crops?

Intro: This is an excellent article about GMO crops. I copied it onto this blog, and gave the sources and the credit to the author. Recently the author has written to me through the comment section and requested that I write an intro to it and give the link to the original article. The purpose of my copying it to this blog was to spread the information as much as I could to the general public. I appreciate the work that the author is doing and do not find any reason to not accept her request. Therefore I encourage anyone who is interested in this subject to go to the original article in examiner.com.  The link to the original article is: http://www.examiner.com/article/what-countries-have-banned-gmo-crops.

EU mergers and takeovers (Feb 8)

Feb 8, 2013
Source:Reuters

Feb 8 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

None

NEW LISTINGS

-- German automotive company Daimler to acquire sole ownership of vehicle importer Mercedes-Benz Austria, Mercedes-Benz financial services Austria, and Mercedes-Benz Hungary. (notified Feb. 6/deadline March 13)

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

FEB 11

-- French financial group PAI Partners to take control of French industrial supplier Industrial Parts Holding (IPH)(notified Jan. 7/deadline Feb. 11)

FEB 18

-- Japanese camera maker Canon to acquire Belgian document recognition company Iris (notified Jan. 14/deadline Feb. 18)

FEB 20

-- Private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice to acquire British consumer goods retailer B&M (notified Jan. 16/deadline Feb. 20/simplified)

FEB 22

-- Belgian state-owned investment company SFPI to acquire a controlling stake in Franco-Belgian bank Dexia (notified Jan. 18/deadline Feb. 22)

-- The Turkish subsidiary of German power utility E.ON to buy a 50 percent stake in Turkish power company Enerijsa, which will give it joint control with Turkey's Haci Omer Sabanci Holdings group (notified Jan. 18/deadline Feb. 22/simplified)

-- Japanese engineering company IHI Corp to buy the remaining 49 percent of German car turbo charger maker IHI Charging Systems International it does not own from German car maker Daimler AG (notified Jan. 18/deadline Feb. 22/simplified)

-- Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to buy data information provider Cerved Holding (notified Jan. 18/deadline Feb. 22/simplified)

FEB 25

-- Private equity firm Triton to acquire Finnish grocery chain Suomen Lahikauppa from IK Investment Partners (notified Jan. 21/deadline Feb. 25)

MARCH 4

-- Drugmakers Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca to acquire joint control of AmylinPharmaceuticals (notified Jan. 28/deadline March 4/simplified)

-- Norwegian group Orkla to buy family-controlled foods group Rieber & Soen (notified Jan. 28/deadline March 4)

MARCH 5

-- U.S. carmaker General Motors to buy some operations belonging to car financing services provider Ally Financial (notified Jan. 29/deadline March 5/simplified)

MARCH 6

-- Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon and U.S. bank Wells Fargo to set up a joint venture to lease airplanes (notified Jan. 30/deadline March 6/simplified)

-- Ryanair to acquire Aer Lingus (notified July 24/deadline extended for the fourth time to March 6 from Feb. 27 after Ryanair offered more commitments)

MARCH 7

-- Swiss-based trader Mercuria Energy and Chinese energy group Sinopec to acquire joint control of tank firm Vesta Terminals (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7/simplified)

-- German insurer Allianz and German car maker Volkswagen's insurance unit VW Financial Services to set up a joint venture (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7)

MARCH 8

-- Private equity funds Bregal Fund III and Quadriga Capital to acquire GErman jewellery distributor LR Global Holding GmbH (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)

-- Russian oil major Rosneft to buy half of Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP from British oil company BP (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8)

-- Austrian investment group B&C Industrieholding GmbH to acquire Austrian aluminium product producer AMAG Austria Metall (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)

-- Investment fund EQT Infrastructure II to take sole control of energy producer E.ON Energy, which is indirectly owned by German utility E.ON (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)

MARCH 12

-- U.S. contract manufacturer Flextronics International to buy some of Google-owned Motorola Mobility's manufacturing operations in China and Brazil (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)

-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private investment firm TPG Lundy to acquire joint control of British publisher Romanes Media Group (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)

-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private investment firm TPG Lundy to acquire British print management services company Mavisbank (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)

-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private investment firm TPG Lundy to acquire British household appliances distributor Britannia Living Group (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)

-- Japanese government fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan to buy Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12/simplified)

MARCH 13

-- German automotive company Daimler to acquire sole ownership of vehicle importer Mercedes-Benz Austria, Mercedes-Benz financial services Austria, and Mercedes-Benz Hungary. (notified Feb. 6/deadline March 13)

MAY 30

-- U.S. communications company Syniverse Technologies to buy Luxembourg-based communications services company Mach (notified Nov. 16/deadline extended for the second time to May 30 from May 15 after the companies asked for more time)

GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS

DEADLINES:

The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company's proposed remedies or an EU member state's request to handle the case.

Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.

SIMPLIFIED:

Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified -- that is, ordinary first-stage reviews -- until they are approved. (Editing by Foo Yun Chee)

Libya must hand over Gaddafi spy chief: Hague judges

7 Feb, 2013
Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - International Criminal Court judges ordered Libya on Thursday to hand over Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief and let him see his lawyer, raising the stakes in a dispute over who has the right to try the deposed strongman's top lieutenants.

The statement placed the Hague-based court on a collision course with Libya's new rulers, who say Gaddafi-era leaders in their custody should face local justice over charges of mass killings and other atrocities.

The ICC judges said Libya must extradite Abdullah al-Senussi over his alleged role in orchestrating reprisals against the protesters in the 2011 uprising that overthrew Gaddafi.

"Libya remains under obligation to comply with the surrender request," the judges said in their statement.

They would decide later how to respond if the North African state continues to hold Senussi, the judges added. The court has the power to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

"The ICC has ordered an immediate halt to Libya's unseemly rush to drag Mr. Al-Senussi to the gallows before the law has taken its course," said Ben Emmerson, Senussi's lawyer before the ICC.

Judges also ordered Libya to grant Emmerson access to his client.

Libya has become a test case of the effectiveness of the 10-year-old court, which relies on the cooperation of member countries to arrest suspects and enforce its orders.

A court-appointed lawyer for Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam was detained in Libya for a month alongside three other court officials when she attempted to visit her jailed client. Since, court officials and defense lawyers have had no contact with either Saif al-Islam or Senussi.

Most recently, allegations have surfaced that Libya paid Mauritania $200 million to ignore the ICC arrest warrant last year, sending Senussi to Tripoli rather than to the ICC's detention center in The Hague.

(Reporting By Thomas Escritt; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Egypt's government nearing end of the road, says ex-PM

20 hours ago
By Amena Bakr | Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

    Comment:  I am posting this article from a mainstream source (Reuters) in order to share the attitude that Ahmed Shafik, a pro- Mubarak  politician, has towards what is happening in Egypt.  Apparently, he is thinking that he will be welcomed in Egyptian politics. What is happening in Egypt is mischief that the global oligarchy is doing through El Bareidi and Co.  It is a test from Allah for President Morsi and most Egyptians to be patient and to be trusting in Allah.  In sha' Allah, the Egyptian people will be patient in this critical time where the global oligarchy /"The Illuminati " is provoking turmoil in Egypt through their puppets.
   Here is the article:

      "ABU DHABI (Reuters) - To his critics, Ahmed Shafik is a typical autocrat consigned to history's dustbin by the Arab Spring - a military man turned politician who ended his career amid corruption allegations and fled to the Gulf.

To his friends - and he has powerful ones in the oil-rich Arabian peninsula - the former air force pilot and prime minister is an authentic voice of opposition to the civilian politician who beat him narrowly in a presidential run-off vote.

Whatever the truth, Shafik is confident that with Egypt in turmoil seven months into its experiment with Islamist rule, its often-reviled political old guard will eventually be seen by Egyptians, and by Washington, in a more kindly light.

"Egyptians reject the current regime," said the silver-haired 71-year-old, the last prime minister of Hosni Mubarak, the president who was ousted in 2011 after three decades in power.

"They do not reject the regime from nothing, they reject it as a result of the actions that have taken place over the last seven months ... It has not been a success."

TURMOIL

"There's is a new system for terrorizing the Egyptian people and this is an indication of anxiety within the upper levels of the regime and of the nearing of the end of the road."

He spoke to Reuters in a gated luxury hotel-managed villa in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, where he fled with his daughters and grandchildren in June 2012, two days after his opponent, Mohamed Mursi, was declared president.

Shafik says Egypt's first popularly elected president is driving the country deeper into political, economic and social turmoil and as a result will lose power.

In recent months, opposition groups have criticized Mursi's perceived drift towards authoritarianism, which they say fueled unrest this year in which at least 59 people were killed.

Shafik said the government's inexperience is to blame and - in a reflex from the Mubarak years - said "terrorism" was embedded in the now-dominant Islamist political groups. Mursi's roots are in the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement founded in Egypt in the 1928.

"The situation is not stable," Shafik said. "You can't bring a group from nothing to suddenly running a country of 90 million people with a lot of problems and a sensitive geographical location."

COMBATIVE

He said he did not intend to leave Egypt forever and would return "when the time is right", despite being on an official watch list over graft charges which he dismisses as politicized.

"I decided to leave because I couldn't guarantee what would happen ... When you have someone who is opposing you who is sane you would be reassured about his reaction, but when you have someone opposing you who is insane then you don't know how he'll react," he said.

Shafik speaks loudly and moves constantly. He also carries himself in a combative, stubborn manner, a trait reminiscent of his old boss, Mubarak, Egyptians close to the old guard say.

In a military career spanning four decades, Shafik served as a senior fighter pilot under Mubarak's command, and was credited for shooting down two Israeli aircrafts in the October 1973 war.

Shafik predicted Washington's view of Egypt's political Islamist rulers would become steadily less benign.

"The U.S. used to think that empowering Islamist political parties would bring an end to Islamist terrorism," he said.

"Only recently did they find out that Islamist terrorism is embedded within these parties," he said.

The United States, which was a staunch ally of Mubarak until he was overthrown in 2011, is now trying to build a dependable relationship with Mursi.

(Reporting by Amena Bakr, Editing by William Maclean and Andrew Heavens)"

China poised to control strategic Pakistani port

3 hrs ago
By Sebastian Abbot, Associated Press | Associated Press
Source: Yahoo News

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- China is poised to take over operational control of a strategic deep-water Pakistani seaport that could serve as a vital economic hub for Beijing and perhaps a key military outpost, according to officials.

The construction of the port, in the former fishing village of Gwadar in troubled Baluchistan province, was largely funded by China at a cost of about $200 million. It has been a commercial failure since it opened in 2007, because Pakistan never completed the road network to link the port to the rest of the country.

Chinese control of the port would give it a foothold in one of the world's most strategic areas and could unsettle officials in Washington, who have been concerned about Beijing's expanding regional influence.

The port on the Arabian Sea occupies a strategic location between South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It lies near the Strait of Hormuz, gateway for about 20 percent of the world's oil.

China's interest is driven by concerns about energy security as it seeks to fuel its booming economy. It wants a place to anchor pipelines to secure oil and gas supplies from the Gulf. Beijing also believes that helping develop Pakistan will boost economic activity in its far western province of Xinjiang and dampen a simmering, low-intensity rebellion there.

Some experts view Gwadar as the westernmost link in the "string of pearls," a line of ports from China to the Gulf that could facilitate expansion of the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean. That has sparked concern in both the U.S. and India.

Pakistan's Cabinet agreed Wednesday to a proposal for a company owned by the Chinese government, China Overseas Port Holdings Limited, to purchase control of the port from Singapore's PSA International Pte Ltd., which won a bid in 2007 to operate the port for 40 years. The transaction has not yet occurred, a spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Ports and Shipping, Mohammed Raza, said Friday.

Pakistan views China as one of its most important allies and a counterweight to the United States, which has given Islamabad billions of dollars in aid but is often viewed as a fickle taskmaster.

China is expected to pay $35 million for control of the port to PSA and two other groups that own an interest, said Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, one of the other shareholders. The third shareholder is the National Logistics Cell, which is controlled by the Pakistani army. The Chinese are waiting for a Pakistani court case challenging PSA's control of the port to be dismissed to complete the transaction, Dhedhi said.

A senior Pakistani official said Beijing has agreed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to finish a 900-kilometer (550-mile) road that would link the port with Pakistan's north-south Indus Highway, facilitating overland transport from Gwadar to China. The Pakistani government was supposed to complete the road in 2012, but it is only 60 percent finished, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

It will still be a tough drive, passing along the Karakorum Highway that winds through the rugged mountains of northern Pakistan and then into Xinjiang province via a border crossing point at an elevation of 4,693 meters (15,397 feet). The path is often blocked by snow in winter.

Even so, the route will cut the overland distance from China's western provinces to the sea in half, from about 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) to China's east coast, to just 2,000 (1,250 miles) south to Gwadar.

Longer-term plans also call for road and rail links from Gwadar that would pass through strife-torn Afghanistan to energy-rich Central Asian states.

Asked about the port on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said "as long as projects are conducive to China-Pakistan relations, the Chinese side will positively support them."

The port is operating at only about 15 percent capacity now, and machinery originally installed by China is rusting for lack of use, said a Pakistani port worker, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

On a purely economic basis, the level of trade through the port should be zero because of its drawbacks, but the government is spending millions of dollars in subsidies to ship fertilizer through the facility. It would be cheaper to send the shipments through the coastal city of Karachi, 700 kilometers (430 miles) to the east, the worker said.

Some government officials have claimed that violence in Baluchistan has prevented them from completing the road network. Baluch nationalists have waged a decades-long insurgency against the government, demanding greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's natural resources.

Gunmen shot to death two Pakistani air force personnel and a shopkeeper in a town near Gwadar on Tuesday, said local police official Izat Ali.

Other officials said the ruling Pakistan People's Party simply shifted priorities away from Baluchistan and spent the money building roads in its main areas of support in Sindh province.

"The solution to Gwadar is the Chinese, since they have shown the willingness to work in Pakistan under tough conditions," said shareholder Dhedhi.

___

Associated Press writers Adil Jawad in Karachi, Pakistan, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to this report.