Football: Evra vows to banish United's Wigan ghosts

WIGAN, United Kingdom: Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has promised there will be no repeat of last season's debilitating defeat at Wigan Athletic when the sides meet again on New Year's Day.

Alex Ferguson's side were beaten 1-0 at the DW Stadium at the start of a run of just one win in four matches that led to Manchester City regaining control of the title race on the way to winning the Premier League.

Although United have endured defensive problems this season, they have picked up six wins from their last seven matches and begin 2013 seven points clear of City.

Shaun Maloney scored the only goal of that defeat in April and Evra, 31, has vowed that United will not experience similar emotions this time around as they look to maintain consistency over the busy holiday period.

Evra is also adamant that with the options that Ferguson has available, tiredness cannot be an excuse.

"I think about the 4-3 win over Newcastle -- last year we lost at this time, 3-2 against Blackburn," said the French left-back.

"I think we have to use the bad experiences we had last year. I remember last year we lost 1-0 at Wigan and we showed nothing. It was a really bad performance for Manchester United.

"This year there will be no excuse. We will just go there, play like Man United, and make sure we get the three points, because it's really important we do that.

"I always say to myself that I'm lucky to get to play in so many games. I will say to the boss I am ready to play, but if he says I need a rest, then I will have a rest.

"I just want to keep going. I will rest when I retire. That's the name of my game."

Defenders Phil Jones and Rafael should return from injury for the game at United's north-west rivals.

But England striker Wayne Rooney is set to miss out again with a knee problem, while Anderson and Nani are both struggling with hamstring injuries.

Ferguson believes the changes he made for the 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday will also have a positive effect against a Wigan side who picked up a 3-0 victory at Aston Villa.

The United manager said: "Phil could be ready and Rafa will be ready.

"We rested Robin (van Persie), Chicharito (Javier Hernandez), Ryan (Giggs) and Paul (Scholes) against West Brom, so we've got enough freshness to bring in.

"Wigan had a great result and it'll be a hard game on Tuesday."

The Latics have been beset by defensive injury problems but after recalling Gary Caldwell earlier in the festive period, manager Roberto Martinez was able to include Spanish defender Ivan Ramis at Villa for the first time in more than a month after knee trouble.

That win at Villa Park ended a miserable run of five defeats in six games for Wigan, who had also conceded at least two goals in eight of their previous nine matches.

After finally keeping a clean sheet Martinez feels his team have now come through a difficult time and look more imposing at both ends of the pitch.

"At Aston Villa, their intensity was magnificent and meant the quality we had going forwards could open up the pitch and create opportunities," he said.

"We were dominant in both boxes, which is what has been missing in recent games, and we'll aim to take that into Tuesday's game against Manchester United."

Antolin Alcaraz is still out with a groin problem and Antonio Lopez, Ben Watson, on-loan Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi and Albert Crusat are also absent.

-AFP/ac

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New law strengthens patents on product designs

Patent law has long protected companies from having the appearance of their products copied, as we saw during this year's copyright battle between Apple and Samsung over the shapes of their smartphones and
tablets. But protections for design patents grew stronger this month, thanks to a new law signed this month by President Barack Obama.

The Patent Law Treaties Implantation Act of 2012, as it is known, amends federal patent law to implement two 5-year-old treaties: the Patent Law Treaty and the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The point of the treaties was to make the process of applying for a patent consistent across member countries.

In particular, that means allowing inventors to file patents around the world using a single application. The bill will go into effect about a year from now. And it increases the term of design patents by one year, from 14 to 15.

GigaOm, which has a thorough summary of the new law and its implications, notes that the law will make it easier for U.S. companies to fight knockoffs of their products. At the same time, it could generate even more litigation for a patent system already strained by it.

The GigaOm report notes that design patents have been easier to come by lately than more traditional utility patents, which cover methods instead of visual appearance. It predicts a new wave of design patent applications from foreign companies looking to protect their intellectual property in ways the courts will support.

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N.J. family in limbo after Russia adoption ban

(CBS News) Two years ago, Kim and Robert Summers decided to adopt from Russia. It took nearly 18 months, but last July, the couple was matched with a 15-month-old boy.

Kim says when she saw his picture for the first time, "I knew that this was the child I was meant to parent ... And I took one look at this little ginger boy, and I fell in love with him."

Kim Summers and the Russian child she and her husband had planned to adopt.

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CBS News

The Summers began filling their New Jersey home with baby clothes, a crib and even a stroller. They traveled to his orphanage in Russia twice to bond with him, and they gave him a name: Preston Mackey Summers.

"He's a wonderful young boy who needs love and attention," Robert says.

Like 1,500 other American families, the Summers worry that the law banning Americans from adopting Russian children could prevent them from bringing a child home.

Putin signs bill barring adoptions of Russian children by Americans
Russian parliament votes to ban U.S. adoption
Russia gives initial approval to measure banning Americans from adopting Russian children

The law is widely seen as retaliation for a new American law banning Russians accused of human rights violations from entering the United States.

Robert and Kim Summers.

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CBS News

The Summers are hoping politics won't stop them from becoming parents. On their last trip to see their child, the Summers told him they would soon take him home.

"I said to him, 'Mommy and Daddy will see you in four weeks, and you're gonna come home with us, and we're gonna be a forever family,'" Kim says.

"Those dreams are sort of shattered," said Robert, weeping. "And I cannot put into words how my wife and I feel right now. ... We ask President Putin, please, consider alternate means, but don't let these children suffer. Please. That's all we ask."

President Vladimir Putin says he signed the ban because he believes Russians should take care of their own children. The U.S. State Department is urging Russia to allow children like Preston who have already met and bonded with their future parents to be allowed to join their American families.

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'Cliff' Summit Brings Hope for a Deal

Political brinkmanship appears to have created a last minute chance for the White House and Congress to agree on a plan to avoid sending the country over the fiscal cliff.

President Obama emerged from an Oval Office meeting with Congressional leaders this evening to say "we had a constructive meeting today" and that he was "moderately optimistic" that they could devise a federal budget proposal ahead of a Jan. 1 deadline that would otherwise automatically trigger a wide range of tax increases and spending cuts. Economists fear that such a combination could throw the country back into a recession.

He said Senate Majority Leader Harry, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, were trying to quickly fashion a deal.

"Senators Reid and McConnell are discussing a potential agreement where we can get a bipartisan bill out of the Senate and over to the House in a timely fashion so that we met the Dec. 31 deadline," Obama said in a hastily-arranged statement. "But given how things have been working in this town we always have to wait and see to see whether it actually happens."

Admitting the weekend could ultimately prove fruitless, the president said as a backup plan he had instructed Reid to deliver the Femocratic proposal to the Senate floor for a straight up-or-down vote. That would boost taxes for couples making more than $250,000.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Sen. Harry Reid Says 'US Headed Over Fiscal Cliff' Watch Video

Fiscal Cliff: Congressional Leaders Squabble at the Last Minute Watch Video

"I believe such a proposal could pass both houses with bipartisan majorities as long as those leaders allow it to actually come to a vote," Obama said. "If members of the House or the Senate want to vote no, they can, but we should let everybody vote. That's the way this is supposed to work. If you can get a majority in the House and you can get a majority in the Senate, then we should be able to pass a bill."

The president lamented that a deal is coming down to the final hours.

"The American people are watching what we do... (their) patience is already thin," the president said. "It's deja vu all over again."

He added later that for Americans the repeated last second efforts to dodge economic crises "is mind boggling to them. It has to stop."

Obama did not give details on what common ground was found behind the West Wing's doors, but ABC News has learned the president did not come to the discussions armed with new proposals. For one, a source familiar with meeting said, the president reiterated his party's past insistence on letting the "Bush-era" tax cuts for income over $250,000 expire, a measure which would affect 2 percent of Americans.

In his brief remarks the president reiterated that this stance was one he campaigned on in the months leading to his November reelection.

Besides Reid and McConnell, the meeting was attended by House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, ice President Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Although only four days remain until the deadline, this was the first time the so-called "Big Four" congressional leaders have assembled together in-person in weeks. Their last meeting was Nov. 16.

According to a readout of the meeting from the Speaker's office, "the leaders spent the majority of the meeting discussing potential options and components for a plan that could pass both chambers of Congress."

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India gang rape victim dies in Singapore hospital

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Indian gang rape victim whose assault in New Delhi triggered nationwide protests died in hospital on Saturday of injuries suffered in the attack, a Singapore hospital treating her said.

The death of the 23-year-old medical student could spawn new protests and possibly fresh confrontations with the police, especially in the Indian capital, which has been the focus of the demonstrations.

"We are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4:45 a.m. on Dec 29, 2012 (15:45 a.m. ET Friday). Her family and officials from the High Commission of India were by her side," Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

The woman, who was severely beaten, raped and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi, was flown to Singapore by the Indian government on Wednesday for specialist treatment.

Most rapes and other sex crimes in India go unreported and offenders are rarely punished, women's rights activists say. But the brutality of the assault on December 16 triggered public outrage and demands for better policing and harsher punishment for rapists.

The case has received blanket coverage on cable television news channels. The woman has not been identified but some Indian media have called her "Amanat", an Urdu word meaning "treasure".

Earlier on Friday, the hospital had reported that the young woman's condition had taken a turn for the worse. It said that her family had been informed and were by her side.

T.C.A. Raghavan, the Indian High Commissioner to Singapore, said after her death that the family has expressed a desire for her body to be flown back to India.

At a briefing earlier on Saturday, Raghavan declined to comment on reports in India accusing the government of sending her to Singapore to minimize the possible backlash in the event of her death.

Some Indian medical experts had questioned the decision to airlift the woman to Singapore, calling it a risky maneuver given the seriousness of her injuries. They had said she was already receiving the best possible care in India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has been battling criticism that it was tone-deaf to the outcry and heavy-handed in its response to the protests in the Indian capital.

"It is deeply saddening and just beyond words. The police and government definitely have to do something more," said Sharanya Ramachandran, an Indian national who is working as an engineer in Singapore.

"They should bring in very severe punishment for such cases. They should start recognizing that it is a big crime."

"SIGNIFICANT BRAIN INJURY"

The Singapore hospital said earlier that the woman had suffered "significant brain injury" and was surviving against the odds. She had already undergone three abdominal operations before being flown to Singapore.

Demonstrations over the lack of safety for women erupted across India after the attack, culminating last weekend in pitched battles between police and protesters in the heart of New Delhi.

New Delhi has been on edge since the weekend clashes. Hundreds of policemen have been deployed on the streets of the capital and streets leading to the main protest site, the India Gate war memorial, have been shut for long periods, causing commuter chaos in the city of 16 million.

Political commentators and sociologists say the rape has tapped into a deep well of frustration that many Indians feel over what they see as weak governance and poor leadership on social and economic issues.

Many protesters have complained that Singh's government has done little to curb the abuse of women in the country of 1.2 billion. A global poll by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in June found that India was the worst place to be a woman because of high rates of infanticide, child marriage and slavery.

New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures. Government data show the number of reported rape cases in the country rose by nearly 17 percent between 2007 and 2011.

(Reporting by Eveline Danubrata and Kevin Lim; Writing by Kevin Lim in Singapore and Ross Colvin in New Delhi; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Yen rebounds slightly against dollar

NEW YORK: The yen edged higher against the dollar Friday after days of declines on expectations Japan would implement more monetary easing under its new prime minister.

The dollar stood at 85.98 yen around 2200 GMT, down from 86.09 late Thursday.

In Asian trade earlier in the day, the yen sat at more than two-year lows against the greenback.

Investors have been selling the yen on expectations newly-elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will carry out his promises of more aggressive monetary easing and big government spending to lift inflation and kickstart the economy.

While noting that Abe and members of his government have "made it abundantly clear" that they won't back away from their promises, BK Asset Management noted that "dollar/yen appears to be nearing exhaustion and a move down to 85 is likely."

"After climbing to a fresh 2-year high overnight, dollar/yen staged a sharp intraday reversal that left the pair near the day's lows," they said.

The euro also slipped slightly against the yen around 2200 GMT, reaching 113.62 yen around 2200 GMT, compared to 113.97 yen a day earlier.

The common European currency lost a little ground to the dollar, standing at $1.3217 after hitting $1.3235 late Thursday.

In other currencies, the dollar inched up to 0.9134 Swiss francs, while the pound rose to $1.6167.

-AFP/ac

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Leaked images suggest BBM video chat coming to BlackBerry 10

Images posted to CrackBerry forums suggest important upgrades coming to BBM.

According to leaked slides posted to CrackBerry's reader forums, RIM's upcoming device running BlackBerry 10 will include video chatting and screen sharing through BBM. The images have since been removed, but the folks at BGR were able to snag one with screenshots and a few details on the speculated features.

According to RIM, BlackBerry 10 is slated for its official launch on January 30.

Jaymar Cabebe

Jaymar Cabebe covers mobile apps and Windows software for CNET. While he may be a former host of the Android Atlas Weekly podcast, he doesn't hate iOS or Mac. Jaymar has worked in online media since 2007.

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"Rescue Me" soul singer Fontella Bass dead at 72

ST. LOUIS Fontella Bass, a U.S. soul singer who hit the top of the R&B charts with "Rescue Me" in 1965, has died. She was 72.

Bass died Wednesday night at a St. Louis hospice of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago, her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said. Bass had also suffered a series of strokes over the past seven years.

"She was an outgoing person," Mitchell said. "She had a very big personality. Any room she entered she just lit the room up, whether she was on stage or just going out to eat."

"Rescue Me" has been covered by many top artists, including Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Melissa Manchester and Pat Benatar. Franklin eventually sang a form of it, as "Deliver Me" in a Pizza Hut TV ad in 1991.

Bass was born into a family with deep musical roots. Her mother was gospel singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers. Her younger brother, David Peaston, had a string of R&B hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Peaston died in February at age 54.

Bass began performing at a young age, singing in her church's choir at age 6. Her interest turned to R&B when she was a teenager. She eventually auditioned for Chess Records and landed a recording contract. Her duet with Bobby McClure, "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing," reached No. 5 on the R&B charts and No. 33 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1965.

She co-wrote and later that year recorded "Rescue Me," reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 4 on the Billboard pop singles chart. Bass's powerful voice bore a striking resemblance to that of Aretha Franklin, who is often misidentified as the singer of that chart-topping hit.

Bass haggled over royalty rights to "Rescue Me" for years before reaching a settlement in the late 1980s, Mitchell said.

Bass lived briefly in Europe before returning to St. Louis in the early 1970s. She recorded occasionally, including a 1995 gospel album, "No Ways Tired," that earned a Grammy nomination.

She is survived by four children.

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Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Dead at 78

Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who topped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 but kept a low public profile in controversies over the second Gulf War against Iraq, died Thursday. He was 78.

Schwarzkopf died in Tampa, Fla., where he had lived in retirement, according to a U.S. official, who was not authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was known popularly as "Stormin' Norman" for a notoriously explosive temper.

He served in his last military assignment in Tampa as commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command, the headquarters responsible for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly 20 countries from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa to Pakistan.

Schwarzkopf became "CINC-Centcom" in 1988 and when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait three years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, he commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organized by then-President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.

At the peak of his postwar national celebrity, Schwarzkopf — a self-proclaimed political independent — rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military commentator for NBC.

While focused primarily in his later years on charitable enterprises, he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000 but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and Pentagon predicted. In early 2003 he told the Washington Post the outcome was an unknown:

"What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That's a huge question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign plan," he said.

Initially Schwarzkopf had endorsed the invasion, saying he was convinced that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had given the United Nations powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what U.N. weapons inspectors found.

He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004, he sharply criticized then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon for mistakes that included inadequate training for Army reservists sent to Iraq and for erroneous judgments about Iraq.

"In the final analysis I think we are behind schedule. ... I don't think we counted on it turning into jihad (holy war)," he said in an NBC interview.

Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 24, 1934, in Trenton, N.J., where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnap case, which ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for stealing and murdering the famed aviator's infant son.

The elder Schwarzkopf was named Herbert, but when the son was asked what his "H'' stood for, he would reply, "H." Although reputed to be short-tempered with aides and subordinates, he was a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who didn't like "Stormin' Norman" and preferred to be known as "the Bear," a sobriquet given him by troops.

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Russia's Putin signals he will sign U.S. adoption ban

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signaled on Thursday he would sign into law a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children and sought to forestall criticism of the move by promising measures to better care for his country's orphans.

In televised comments, Putin tried to appeal to people's patriotism by suggesting that strong and responsible countries should take care of their own and lent his support to a bill that has further strained U.S.-Russia relations.

"There are probably many places in the world where living standards are higher than ours. So what, are we going to send all our children there? Maybe we should move there ourselves?" he said, with sarcasm.

Parliament gave its final approval on Wednesday to the bill, which would also introduce other measures in retaliation for new U.S. legislation which is designed to punish Russians accused of human rights violations.

For it to become law Putin needs to sign it.

"So far I see no reason not to sign it, although I have to review the final text and weigh everything," Putin said at a meeting of federal and regional officials that was shown live on the state's 24-hour news channel.

"I intend to sign not only the law ... but also a presidential decree that will modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children ... especially those who are in a difficult situation, by that I mean in poor health," Putin said.

Critics of the bill say the Russian authorities are playing political games with the lives of children, while the U.S. State Department repeated its "deep concern" over the measure.

"Since 1992 American families have welcomed more than 60,000 Russian children into their homes, and it is misguided to link the fate of children to unrelated political considerations," State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.

Ventrell added that the United States was troubled by provisions in the bill that would restrict the ability of Russian civil society organizations to work with U.S. partners.

Children in Russia's crowded and troubled orphanage system - particularly those with serious illnesses or disabilities - will have less of a chance of finding homes, and of even surviving, if it becomes law, child rights advocates say.

They point to people like Jessica Long, who was given up shortly after birth by her parents in Siberia but was raised by adoptive parents in the United States and became a Paralympic swimming champion.

However, the Russian authorities point to the deaths of 19 Russian-born children adopted by American parents in the past decade, and lawmakers named the bill after a boy who died of heat stroke in Virginia after his adoptive father left him locked in a car for hours.

Putin reiterated Russian complaints that U.S. courts have been too lenient on parents in such cases, saying Russia has inadequate access to Russian-born children in the United States despite a bilateral agreement that entered into force on November 1.

NATIONAL IDENTITY

But Putin, who began a new six-year term in May and has searched for ways to unite the country during 13 years in power, suggested there were deeper motives for such a ban.

"For centuries, neither spiritual nor state leaders sent anyone abroad," he said, indicating he was not speaking specifically about Russia but about many societies.

"They always fight for their national identities - they gather themselves together in a fist, they fight for their language, culture," he said.

The bid to ban American adoptions plays on sensitivity in Russia about adoptions by foreigners, which skyrocketed as the social safety net unraveled with the 1991 Soviet collapse.

Families from the United States adopt more Russian children than those of any other country.

Putin had earlier described the Russian bill as an emotional but appropriate response to the Magnitsky Act, legislation signed by President Barack Obama this month as part of a law granting Russia "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) status.

The U.S. law imposes visa bans and asset freezes on Russians accused of human rights violations, including those linked to the death in a Moscow jail of Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-graft lawyer, in 2009.

The Russian bill would impose similar measures against Americans accused of violating the rights of Russian abroad and outlaw some U.S.-funded non-governmental groups.

(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Doina Chiacu)

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