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KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Wednesday he was ready to meet his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir to try to move forward with setting up a demilitarized border zone and restart oil flows.
His comments raise the prospect that the two could set aside their differences after signing agreements in September meant to secure their disputed border and to allow the South to resume oil exports after the two came close to war in April in the worst violence since Juba seceded last year.
However, neither country has yet withdrawn its army from either side of their shared border, a precondition to resume oil flows from the landlocked south through the north, a lifeline for both economies.
South Sudan had initially planned to resume exports by year-end after shutting down its output of 350,000 barrels a day in January after failing to agree an export fee with Sudan.
Two weeks ago, the African Union, backed by Western powers, urged Bashir and Kiir to meet as soon as possible to resolve all their disputes. Delegations from both countries are scheduled to resume talks in Ethiopia in mid-January.
"I am ready to meet Salva Kiir to speed up implementing all agreements at the same time," Bashir said, after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who is trying to mediate in the row.
"I am ready to meet Kiir at any place," Bashir said.
Desalegn said he would fly to Juba on Thursday to meet Kiir. "I will be having the same discussion with President Salva Kiir to help us implement the already signed agreements," he said.
South Sudan seceded from Sudan under a 2005 peace agreement which ended decades of civil war. But both countries have yet to demarcate their disputed border which straddles oil production facilities.
The two rivals are also at odds over Abyei, a contested area between Sudan and South Sudan prized for its fertile grazing land.
(Reporting by El-Tayeb Siddig and Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudans-bashir-says-ready-meet-kiir-try-oil-210114635.html
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After being held captive for five days in Syria, NBC's Richard Engel and his team recount being ambushed, blindfolded and traumatized before being freed at a checkpoint.?
By Mike Brunker, NBC News
Updated at 8:15 a.m. ET: NBC News? Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and members of his network production team were freed from captors in Syria after a firefight at a checkpoint on Monday, five days after they were taken prisoner, NBC News said early Tuesday.
?After being kidnapped and held for five days inside Syria by an unknown group, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and his production crew members have been freed unharmed. We are pleased to report they are safely out of the country,? the network said in a statement.
?It is good to be here,? Engel said during a live appearance on TODAY from Turkey. ?I?m very happy that we?re able to do this live shot this morning.?
Engel said that they were traveling with Syrian rebels when a group of about 15 gunmen ?jumped out of the trees and bushes? and captured them.
'Psychological torture'
He said the gunmen executed one of the rebels ?on the spot,? and later during their captivity they were subjected to mock executions while blindfolded and bound.
"We weren't physically beaten or tortured. It was a lot of psychological torture, threats of being killed," Engel said.
"They made us choose which one of us would be shot first and when we refused there were mock shootings.?They pretended to shoot Ghazi [Balkiz, an NBC producer] several times,? Engel said.
Balkiz said that they had ?worked with each other very well? we kept each other?s spirits up? during their ordeal.?Cameraman John Kooistra said he had ?made good with my maker? and had been ?prepared to die many times.?
Engel said their captors ?were talking openly about their loyalty to the government? of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
He said he had a ?very good idea? about who they were -- members of the ?shabiha? militia, loyal to Assad, trained by the Iran?s Revolutionary Guard and allied with Lebanon-based group Hezbollah.
Engel said their captors? plan was to use them to win the freedom of people held by the rebels.
?They captured us in order to carry out this exchange,? he said.
NBC News file
Richard Engel at the end of a reporting trip in Syria in July of this year.
Engel, 39, and his team disappeared shortly after crossing into northwest Syria from Turkey on Thursday. The network had not been able to contact them until learning that they had been freed on Monday.
The network said there was no claim of responsibility, no contact with the captors and no request for ransom during the time the crew was missing.
After entering Syria, Engel and his team were abducted, tossed into the back of a truck before being transported to an unknown location believed to be near the small town of Ma?arrat Misrin. During their captivity, they were blindfolded and bound, but otherwise not physically harmed, the network said.
Early Monday evening local time, the prisoners were being moved to a new location in a vehicle when their captors ran into a checkpoint manned by members of the Ahrar al-Sham brigade, a Syrian rebel group. There was a confrontation and a firefight ensued.? Two of the captors were killed, while an unknown number of others escaped, the network said.
The NBC News crew was unharmed in the incident. They remained in Syria until Tuesday morning when they made their way to the border and re-entered Turkey, the network said. They were to be evaluated and debriefed, but had communicated that everyone was in good health.
NBC News said it ?expressed its gratitude to those who worked to gather information and secure the release of our colleagues.?
Engel is widely regarded as one of America?s leading foreign correspondents for his coverage of wars, revolutions and political transitions around the world over the last 15 years. Most recently, he was recognized for his outstanding reporting on the 2011 revolution in Egypt, the conflict in Libya and unrest throughout the Arab world.?
One of the only Western journalists to cover the entire war in Iraq , Engel was named chief foreign correspondent of NBC News in April 2008. He joined the network in May 2003.
The Syrian civil war began in March 2011, when demonstrators took to the streets to show support for the so-called Arab Spring uprisings sweeping across the Middle East and north Africa and to demand the resignation of Assad of the ruling Ba?ath Party. The following month, Assad deployed the Syrian army to quell the uprising, ordering troops to open fire on demonstrators. But despite the harsh crackdown, Assad?s troops and militias loyal to the government were unable to quell what soon became an armed uprising.
In the intervening months, the security situation in the country has continued to deteriorate amid increasingly fierce fighting between Syrian troops and a loose confederation of outgunned but increasingly emboldened rebel forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated in November that more than 40,000 people had died in the fighting.
More world stories from NBC News:
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Gunmen on Monday abducted four Chinese nationals working for Hyundai Fabrication Company. The incident took place on Okpoama Island, Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
Confirming the report, Mr Fidelis Odunna (DSP), the Police Public Relations Officer in Bayelsa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the gunmen stormed the company?s site by boat and abducted the Chinese workers.
He, however, said that the police command had since deployed detectives to comb the creeks for possible clues, adding that ?strategic security measures are being put in place to forestall a reoccurrence??.
Community sources earlier told NAN that one of the four kidnapped men was the company?s Operations Manager, who was simply identified as Mr J.H. Kin.
A source also told NAN that the gunmen blindfolded their hostages and took them away in their speedboat.
The source said that the abduction was carried out in a ?commando-like-manner??, as many of the company staff who witnessed the incident were reportedly helplessly.
NAN also learnt that officials of the Joint Military Task force (JTF) and policemen have been deployed to the creeks to hunt down the kidnappers and secure the release of the expatriates.
However, the whereabouts of the kidnapped men has yet to be ascertained, while no group has claimed responsibility for the action.
Hyundai Fabrication Company fabricates metal materials used by the Brass Liquefied Natural Gas Company (BLNG).
NAN investigations also revealed that the local communities have been at loggerheads with the company over its failure to employ youths from the area. (NAN)
Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.
Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/gunmen-kidnap-4-chinese-construction-workers-in-bayelsa/
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GENEVA (Reuters) - Ghana has put forward the first official candidate to succeed Pascal Lamy as head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), nominating its former Trade Minister Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen.
Kyerematen's bid to take over after Lamy's second term expires on August 31. was widely expected after he won the backing of the African Union earlier this year.
However, that endorsement was done so quietly that some diplomats have suggested he might face a challenge from another African nation belonging to the 157-member trade body.
Applications must be submitted by the end of the year, in time for a three-month campaigning period and for a winner to emerge by the end of May.
Many trade diplomats think the job should go to an African, Latin American or Caribbean candidate, since all but one head of the 17-year-old WTO have been from developed countries. The exception was Thailand's Supachai Panitchpakdi.
But Lamy has said there was no system of rotating the job between countries and regions and said his successor, chosen by consensus, should be picked on the basis of competence alone.
Other names in the frame are New Zealand's Trade Minister Tim Groser, Brazil's Ambassador to the WTO Roberto Azevedo, Costa Rica's Trade Minister Anabel Gonzalez and South African Trade Minister Rob Davies.
The head of Mexico's competition commission Eduardo Perez Motta, a former ambassador to the WTO, told Reuters in September that he would enter the race if his name was put forward.
Former Jordanian Trade Minister Ahmad Al Hindawi will also be nominated, Jordanian media reported earlier this month.
The office of Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who failed in a bid to head the World Bank, headed off rumors by saying in September that she had not expressed interest and was not a candidate.
The only WTO member to rule itself out of the race so far is the European Union.
"Obviously this time it will not be somebody from Europe, so we will have to see what the candidatures are," European Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht told reporters last week during a visit to Geneva.
(Editing by Louise Ireland)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ghana-names-kyerematen-first-candidate-succeed-wtos-lamy-181840759.html
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The US space agency's (Nasa) Ebb and Flow gravity mapping satellites have ended their mission to the Moon.
The duo were commanded to slam into a 2km-high mountain in the far lunar north.
The deliberate ditching avoids the possibility of an uncontrolled descent on to locations of historic importance, such as the Apollo landing sites.
Nasa's deep-space radio-tracking system confirmed the loss of signal from the satellites just before 22:30 GMT.
Afterwards, it was announced the impact site would be named for Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut who died earlier this year. Ms Ride's educational programme had run the outreach cameras on the spacecraft.
The satellite twins returned some remarkable data during their operational mission, which got under way in March. Their maps of the subtle variations in gravity across the Moon's surface are expected to transform many areas of planetary science.
"Ebb and Flow have removed a veil from the Moon and removing this veil will enable discoveries about the way the Moon formed and evolved for many years to come," said principal investigator Prof Maria Zuber from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US.
Together known as Grail (Gravity Recovery and Internal Laboratory), the pair hit the flank of the lunar-nearside mountain about 3km and 30 seconds apart.
The peak - located at 75 degrees North latitude close to a crater named Goldschmidt - was in darkness at the time.
Being only the size of washer-driers, and having completely depleted their fuel tanks, the pair were not expected to produce any sort of impact flash visible to Earth observers.
That said, another of Nasa's missions at the Moon, its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), was looking out for the crashes.
If it was lucky, LRO's ultraviolet imager might have seen some volatile materials being driven off the surface by the heat from the impacts. The orbiter will also image the site in a couple of weeks to see if it can discern any new craters.
Deep viewsThe Grail mission has produced the highest resolution, highest quality global gravity maps for any planetary body in the Solar System, including Earth.
The gravity differences the satellites have measured are the result of an uneven distribution of mass across the Moon.
Obvious examples at the surface include big mountain ranges or deep impact basins, but even inside the lunar body the rock is arranged in an irregular fashion, with some regions being denser than others.
Much of the twins' data has yet to be analysed but already scientists are getting some tantalising new insights into the Moon's structure and history.
"One of the major results that we've found is that the lunar crust is much thinner than we had believed before, and that a couple of the large impact basins probably excavated the Moon's mantle, which is very useful in terms of trying to understand the composition of the Moon as well as the Earth, because we actually think that the Earth's mantle has a similar composition to the Moon's mantle," said principal investigator Prof Maria Zuber from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US.
The gravity data also shows the lunar body's top-most layers to be far more fractured than anyone had previously suspected. These pulverised and porous materials that coat the surface bear witness to the brutal battering the Moon received in the first few hundred million years of its existence.
In addition, Ebb and Flow found evidence for great lava-filled fissures just under all this impact debris.
These dykes, some hundreds of km long, appear to reach deep into the Moon, and may hint at an early expansion phase in its history when the hot body expanded outwards, before eventually cooling and contracting.
Grail data will be critical in tying down ideas for how the Moon came into existence. The dominant theory calls for a giant impact billions of years ago between the Earth and a Mars-sized object which threw material into space that ultimately coalesced into the familiar body we recognise in the sky today.
Some scientists have argued that Earth may once even have had two moons which later merged - although the Grail data could have sunk this idea.
"We have looked for evidence of the second moon and we have not seen any of the suggested characteristics of the internal structure of the Moon that would be consistent with the idea of a second companion," said Prof Zuber.
"That in itself does not rule out that idea at this point. We and others can look at this in more detail, but nothing jumps out in that regard."
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20761903#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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NEWTOWN, Connecticut (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic church in the Connecticut town where a gunman shot dead 20 school children was evacuated on Sunday after a bomb threat was reported by officials during services.
After searching the St. Rose of Lima Catholic church, police determined that it was safe to re-enter, though the building would remain closed for the rest of the day, an officer at the scene said.
The church is about a mile from the Sandy Hook Elementary School where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults and then himself on Friday.
Police on Sunday also warned of threats and false representations on social media sites, and said they were investigating for possible criminal violations.
(Reporting by Michelle Conlin; Editing by Will Dunham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/connecticut-church-near-shooting-evacuated-bomb-threat-180742511.html
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comSocre just released its holiday e-commerce numbers for the week, and according to the report, this past week was the heaviest five-day online shopping period on record. So far, retail e-commerce spending for the first 44 days of the November?December 2012 holiday season was $33.8 billion up 13 percent.
The past week broke records, with four individual days eclipsing $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday with $1.275 billion. The week was particularly important because it was the last week many will spend at online retailers to get gifts shipped by Christmas.
comScore adds that with some retailers (a.k.a Amazon) offering free two-day shipping, this week could bring more meaningful sales. But clearly, shoppers were flocking to the web for holiday shopping. So far, 11 individual days have surpassed $1 billion in online retail sales, already beating last year?s record of 10 shopping days.
Cyber Monday (Nov. 26, 2012) currently ranks as the heaviest online spending day of the season ? and in history ? at $1.465 billion. Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 ranks second with $1.362 billion; followed by Monday, Dec. 10, 2012 (Green Monday) with $1.275 billion; Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012 with $1.263 billion; and Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 (Cyber Monday 2011) with $1.251 billion.
We still have more time for spending to increase. comScore also says that it expects the growth rate overall for online spending for the holiday season to exceed 13 percent.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - An entire classroom of students is unaccounted for following a shooting at an elementary school in suburban Connecticut on Friday, a local newspaper reported. The Hartford Courant, citing unnamed sources, said at least 20 people were shot and that many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. CBS News, citing unnamed officials, reported at least 27 people, including possibly 18 children, were killed when at least one shooter opened fire at the school in Newtown, Connecticut. (Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/emu-joins-man-va-jog-reunited-owner-143450259.html
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Dec. 14, 2012 ? A regular consumption of gazpacho can contribute to reduce hypertension, according to a scientific study published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases, by the researcher Alexander Medina-Rem?n, from the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology of the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus of the UB, as its main author.
Hypertension is a major public health problem; it affects about 25 % of the adult population. It is also the main risk factor of myocardial or cerebral infarction, which is a leading cause of death in western population. This new publication has analysed the effect of gazpacho consumption in 3,995 individuals of the study PREDIMED, which analyses the effects of Mediterranean diet on the population at high cardiovascular risk to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
To improve diet, to improve health
"Previous clinical and epidemiological studies associate the consumption of gazpacho's main ingredients (tomato, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, etc.) with an arterial pressure reduction," explains Alexander Medina-Rem?n. "This new scientific study," he continues, "states for the first time that a regular consumption of gazpacho is as beneficial as the consumption of its ingredients individually; so gazpacho can reduce hypertension."
According to the professor Rosa M. Lamuela, in charge of the Research Group on Natural Antioxidant of the UB and coordinator of the study, the protecting effect of gazpacho on arterial pressure has been a finding "an unexpected one, as it contains salt, one of the restricted ingredients to maintain arterial pressure levels. Despite this, the results of the study describe that arterial pressure of gazpacho consumers is lower than the one of non-consumers. The reason may be that bioactive elements of gazpacho counteract the effect of salt ingestion."
Carotenes, vitamin C and polyphenols
How can these results about gazpacho consumption be explained? According to the researcher Alexander Medina-Rem?n, "Gazpacho highly contains carotenes, vitamin C and polyphenols. The final balance of the bioactive elements of gazpacho and its salt content makes it to be cardio-healthy; in other words, at the end, the positive effect of all the ingredients that contribute to the reduction of arterial pressure prevails over salt's effect." Experts have also used statistical techniques of logistic regression to know to what extent the consumption of gazpacho can reduce the risk of suffering hypertension. As Medina-Rem?n remarks, "the risk could be reduced up to 27 % in some profiles of consumers."
Researching on the mechanism of action
The research groups of the following institutions have also participated in this multi-focus and interdisciplinary study: the Hospital Cl?nic of Barcelona, the IDIBAPS, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), the University of Navarra, the University of Valencia, the Rovira i Virgili University, the University of Malaga, the Instituto de la Grasa-CSIC, the San Pablo Healthcare Center, the University Research Institute on Health Sciences and the University Hospital of ?lava. In the future, the research group will promote some study lines on the mechanisms of action that associate the consumption of food rich in polyphenols with an arterial pressure reduction, a process that probably is related to an increase of nitric oxide, a molecule with vasodilation properties on cardiovascular system.
The Research Group on Natural Antioxidant of the UB, which has carried out several remarkable international studies on nutrition and cardiovascular disease prevention, is part of the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology of the UB, the Food Technology Reference Net of the Government of Catalonia (XARTA) and the Nutrition and Food Safety Research Institute (INSA-UB). The research group is also member of the networks CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn) and RETICS, from the Carlos III Health Institute.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/H4Mi3NsbjLM/121214091026.htm
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The motive is still missing in Tuesday's Oregon mall shooting that left 3 people dead.?Jacob Tyler Roberts, the suspected shooter, was adventurous and had planned a move to Hawaii, according to friends.?
This photo shows Jacob Tyler Roberts, the suspect in a shooting at an Oregon Mall on Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. Roberts, who killed two people and himself in the shooting rampage, was 22 years old and used a stolen rifle from someone he knew, authorities said.
AP Photo/Clackamas County Sheriff's Department
EnlargeBefore police say Jacob Tyler Roberts walked into a?mall?wearing a hockey-style mask, firing gunshots that killed two people and injured a teenage girl, he visited the brother of his roommate, hugged him and told him he was going "somewhere south, somewhere warm."
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The roommate, 26-year-old Jaime Eheler, also said Roberts "had a weird look on his face" when he left the house they shared.
Hours later, three people were dead, including Roberts, who shot himself after the Tuesday rampage.
Although officials have not yet revealed a motive, a clearer picture of Roberts is emerging. According to his aunt, a foot injury prevented him from joining the Marines. He enjoyed skydiving and once wanted to be a smokejumper, according to Eheler. His mother died of cancer when he was young, he left his aunt's house as a teenager and lived with Eheler's family for a while, and he had told friends of plans to live in Hawaii for a year.
"I never saw this young man raise his voice," Eheler said, sobbing. "I've seen him sad, I've seen him hurt. I've never seen him mad."
The Clackamas County sheriff's office said Roberts had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at the mall?Tuesday as thousands did their Christmas shopping. Roberts parked his 1996 Volkswagen Jetta in front of the second-floor entrance to Macy's and walked through the store into the?mall?and began firing randomly in the food court, authorities said.
He fatally shot Steven Mathew Forsyth, 45, and Cindy Ann Yuille, 54, the sheriff said. Kristina Shevchenko, 15, was wounded and in serious condition Thursday.
Eheler said Roberts had recently quit his job at a gyro shop in Portland, sold all of his belongings, and put his car up for sale on Craigslist in advance of his planned move to Hawaii.
She said his decision to move to the islands caught her by surprise, but only a little bit. He told her he planned to live off the interest of an inheritance that he had invested, and that he planned to return on Oct. 25, 2013.
"He's adventurous," Ehler said. "That's who he is."
Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, told ABC's "World News with Diane Sawyer" that he was supposed to catch a flight Saturday but he got drunk and missed it.
The owner of Big Bertha's, a sandwich shop where Roberts most recently worked, threw a going away party for him last week.
"His nickname there at the shop was 'The Kid,'" said Thomas Illk, father of Tommy Illk, who owns the shop. "Tommy is just devastated. He was like a little brother to him."
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As the holiday season kicks into high gear, we invite you to look back at some of our entries on ways to stay healthy this time of the year.? Last week, nutrition expert Christopher Gardner, PhD, discussed?why it?s not a good idea to overindulge?- even just for the short-time ? this time of year. And we?ve previously offered holiday-related tips on:
We?ve also linked to advice from pediatricians on?how to help children eat healthier during the season?and to?a?list of 12 health and safety tips from the?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Photo by Dawn ? Pink Chick
Source: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2012/12/14/staying-healthy-and-feeling-good-this-holiday-season/
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Customer focus and research have always played an important role in business development and management. Depending on the scale of your business, in many situations you may be dealing with several clients at the same time. While every client is important, different clients bring in different requirements and revenues to the table. Your planning, supply, and marketing should vary accordingly. Managers may spend hundreds of hours researching and analyzing each customer. Organizing the information into an accessible format can simplify the subsequent planning program for the business. Many companies, therefore, invest in an account planning tool.
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Once you collect the data and set up the accounting tool, you will have access to all the information within minutes. You can create powerful business proposals within a short time. You can also access all the data with ease right before a meeting. An account planning tool is not expensive, and you do not have to invest in a new piece of equipment. You can simply add the tool to your existing computer. You can also estimate the possible revenue of your company in the near future, and plan your expenditure and investments accordingly. You can use the tool for internal communication as well during business meeting and strategy development.
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Source: http://blog.demandmetric.com/2012/12/14/account-planning-tool-for-strategic-business-improvements/
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If you are looking for a job that's based in a fast moving and exciting location, why not look at the many jobs in Sydney airport? From aviation to retail, the possibilities for work are many. With 35.8 million passengers passing thru Sydney airport in the year, jobs in Sydney airport provide employees with a rare chance to come into contact with folk from an astonishing selection of different backgrounds and nationalities every day.
You don't have to be an airline pilot to find jobs in Sydney airport. There are a number of possibilities for employment in retail, customer service, bag handling, hospitality and more.
Working in the aviation industry has a bunch of benefits for staff, including regular travel as part of their work and subsidised travel for leisure purposes. If you enjoy travel and flying and are happy to work dull hours in return for time off and travel benefits, you could like working as a flight attendant or other airline personnel.
For those who prefer to stay on the ground, there are a lot of possibilities. Security workers, aviation screening officials and air traffic controllers are just some of the in-demand jobs in Sydney airport. These jobs can be interesting, and involve a great amount of responsibility and awareness of detail.
If you like working with folk you may enjoy work as a ticket agent, which involves booking folk on to flights and coping with any Problems that arise. Like to address load that does not talk back? You might consider working as a shipping agent, or freight-forwarding clerk, taking care of cargo and other products that transit thru Sydney airport.
Another choice is to look for a retail position at one of the many shopping outlets and food stalls that are based at the airport. This can be a great choice for those that have retail or hospitality experience, and want a change of scenery, or to advance their careers. There are a good deal of starter positions as well when you are looking to start.
With so many options and such a fascinating working environment on offer, it is no wonder that jobs in Sydney airport are in serious demand. If you like meeting folk from varied cultures and flourish in a fast-paced environment, working at the airport might be for you.
Mark Read is the CEO of www.jobsearch.com.au, One of Australia?s top 5 job aggregation web sites in Australia. With several thousand roles available in all zones of the Employment Market hereabouts or nationally. Check out thousands of roles and look for your new career today.
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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who conferred with President Barack Obama by phone yesterday, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, following a closed-door meeting with the GOP caucu. Boehner and the other House Republican leaders are calling for Obama to come up with plan they can accept for spending cuts and tax revenue to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and budget reductions. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who conferred with President Barack Obama by phone yesterday, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, following a closed-door meeting with the GOP caucu. Boehner and the other House Republican leaders are calling for Obama to come up with plan they can accept for spending cuts and tax revenue to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and budget reductions. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, leaves after a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, following the GOP caucus. Boehner and the other House Republican leaders are calling for Obama to come up with plan they can accept for spending cuts and tax revenue to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and budget reductions. From left are, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va. and Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who conferred with President Barack Obama by phone yesterday, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, following a closed-door meeting with the GOP caucu. Boehner and the other House Republican leaders are calling for Obama to come up with plan they can accept for spending cuts and tax revenue to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and budget reductions. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - This Nov. 16, 2012 file photo shows President Barack Obama, accompanied by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, speaking to reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Even if Congress and the White House fail to strike a budget deal by New Year's Day, reality may be a lot less bleak then the scenario that's been spooking employers and investors and slowing the U.S. Economy. The tax increases and spending cuts could be retroactively repealed after Jan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The U.S. economy is already being hurt by the "fiscal cliff" standoff in Washington,Bernanke said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans aren't budging on tax rates, and Democrats are resisting steps like raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Negotiations on averting a year-end fiscal train wreck combining big automatic tax hikes and sweeping spending cuts again appear stalled.
There are less than three weeks before the government could careen off this "fiscal cliff," but the chief GOP negotiator, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that "serious differences" remain between him and President Barack Obama after an exchange of offers and a pair of conversations this week.
Boehner spoke after a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP lawmakers in which he advised them not to make plans for the week after Christmas.
Neither side has given much ground, and his exchange of proposals with Obama seemed to generate hard feelings more than progress. The White House has slightly reduced its demands on taxes ? from $1.6 trillion over a decade to $1.4 trillion ? but isn't yielding on demands that rates rise for wealthier earners.
Boehner responded with an offer very much like one he gave the White House more than a week ago that offered $800 billion in new revenue, half of Obama's demand. Boehner is also pressing for an increase in the Medicare eligibility age and a stingier cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the two men did not have any follow-up talks Wednesday.
"There were some offers that were exchanged back and forth yesterday, and the president and I had a pretty frank conversation about just how far apart we are," Boehner said after his meeting with fellow Republican lawmakers. "He said it's looking like trench warfare," said Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., referring to Boehner.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke weighed in as well. He said, "Clearly, the fiscal cliff is having effects on the economy," the uncertainty affecting consumer and business confidence and leading businesses to cut back on investment.
There is increasing concern about a Dec. 31 deadline to stop the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts and the start of across-the-board spending cuts that are the result of Washington's failure to complete a deficit-reduction deal last year. Even if an agreement can be reached, the halting pace of negotiations is jeopardizing chances that it could be written into proper legislative form and passed through both House and Senate before the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.
Both sides accuse the other of slow-walking the talks. Democrats say Boehner is unwilling to crack on the key issue of raising tax rates on family income over $250,000 because he's afraid of a revolt on his right flank and from younger, ambitious members of his leadership team.
"I do have an increasing concern that the speaker ... is trying to string this out until January 3rd because that's when he would be re-elected as speaker," Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, told The Associated Press. "And I think he's nervous that if he can't get a majority of his House Republican members to support a reasonable agreement that that could put his speakership election in jeopardy. And so that might cause him to try and string these talks."
Many conservatives say they would oppose a deficit-cutting package negotiated by Boehner that included higher tax rates.
"I'll say no, because the focus has got to be on economic growth," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. "The simple fact is raising taxes is not going to grow our economy."
Others wouldn't rule it out completely.
"If there's real cuts in spending, if there's real reform of entitlement programs, I think all of us would have to reconsider our position," Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said Wednesday. "But the problem is, I don't see real cuts, real cuts. I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no."
Liberal Democrats are trying to pull Obama in the opposite direction on Medicare and Social Security. Eighteen months ago, Obama had all but agreed to an increase in the retirement age and a less generous inflation adjustment for calculating Social Security COLAs.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned Republicans against insisting on raising the Medicare eligibility age as part of any deal.
"Don't go there," Pelosi said on "CBS This Morning." She said raising the retirement age wouldn't contribute much savings toward an agreement in the short term, adding, "Is it just a trophy that the Republicans want to take home?"
Raising the Medicare age from 65 to 67 could cut Medicare costs by $162 billion over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate last year. But by 2035, it would cut Medicare's projected budget by 7 percent.
That estimate, however, assumes the eligibility age would increase rather abruptly and hit people just about to retire. Republicans have instead in the past that their Medicare proposals won't affect now those 55 and above.
Democrats are also pushing back against a GOP plan to reduce Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, another step back from where Obama and Boehner were just 18 months ago.
"Quite frankly, Social Security is off the table," said Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y.
The backtracking has Republicans fuming that Obama campaigned on a "balanced" fiscal solution but now is unwilling to pair tax increases with politically painful cuts to Medicare and other popular programs.
"The president and his allies have taken so many things off the table the only thing left is the varnish," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
But in an ABC interview Tuesday, Obama did not reject a Republican call to raise the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67. The proposal is "something that's been floated," Obama said, not mentioning that he had tacitly agreed to it in the deficit-reduction talks with Boehner more than a year ago that ended in failure.
"When you look at the evidence, it's not clear that it actually saves a lot of money," Obama said. "But what I've said is, let's look at every avenue, because what is true is we need to strengthen Social Security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we've got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly."
___
Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Nyia Hawkins contributed.
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?Editor's Note: Dan Munro is a contributing editor to Forbes.com.? His columns are collected under the heading, "The HealthCare Compass."
As a country, we?ve completely succumbed to the well publicized fact that our healthcare system is officially the most expensive in the world. It?s often more expensive by a factor of 2 (or more) when compared to other industrialized countries on a per-capita basis. Here?s the chart based on 2009 data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD):
At $3 trillion per year ? our National Healthcare Expenditure (NHE) is more than the entire GDP of basically every other country on the planet?- except 3 -?China, Japan and Germany. ?We will likely surpass Germany?s GDP (~$3.5 trillion) by 2015 ? if not sooner. The source of GDP data makes no difference either because the fact remains across all four of the leading sources for 2011 GDP data. That includes the United Nations, The International Monetary Fund, the CIA World Factbook and the World Bank.
It?s simply a given. No dispute. No debate. Fair enough. So what?s left to debate if you?re King of the Healthcare Pricing World? How about quality. Two of the most common benchmarks globally are Life Expectancy (U.S. world rank #37) and Infant Mortality (U.S. world rank #34). Not surprisingly, the data that supports those rankings is often disputed. Today?s report on the safety of American Hospitals by The Leapfrog Group (an employer-backed non-profit) is equally?contentious. As reported by the L.A. Times:
Of the 2,618 hospitals across the U.S. reviewed by Leapfrog:
Basically, 44% of the hospitals reviewed were given a C, D or F. One of the nation?s more respected and well known healthcare institutions ? UCLA Medical Center ? received an outright F. In an effort to give hospitals time to boost sagging grades, Leapfrog withheld their finding for UCLA from an earlier version of their report card in June. Clearly the additional time didn?t help. As is so typical of this type of data, the Chief Medical Officer at UCLA vehemently denied the assessment and blamed it entirely on Leapfrog?s reporting methodology. Other hospital organizations also criticized the findings. From the L.A. Times article:
?UCLA is not an F hospital in quality and safety. It is not a fair scoring system and it does a disservice to the public.??Tom Rosenthal, Chief Medical Officer at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
So who?s right ? and how do we as consumers (and ultimately patients) know? We don?t. What we do know is that the entire industry spends a great deal of time, energy and effort arguing over data. It often starts ? as Hugo Campos found out ? with who owns the raw data itself. In Hugo?s case, the headline highlights the dilemma: Should Patients Have Access to Implant Data? Medtronic, Boston Sci Weigh In.
Say what? Med device companies get to ?weigh-in? on who owns the data their devices are recording ? inside a patient? At what point did we lose the?sovereignty?of our own beating?heart? It?s actually quite easy to answer that one. Clearly we never had it ? so the fight (led by patients like Hugo) is to get it back.
That data battle continues on the clinical side as well. From an article I wrote in August ? Healthcare?s Question of the Decade:
For years we?ve been sold on the clinical benefits of things like PSA Screening, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Colonoscopies and Mamograms. Over the last decade, millions of these clinical tests have been done ? but the clinical evidence to support their benefit wasn?t only missing ? in many cases these procedures often resulted in more harm than good. Here?s the chart that highlights the results of several studies:
In May of this year, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) gave PSA Screening a ?D? recommendation. [Grade D. The Task Force recommends against this service. There is moderate or high certainty that the service has no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits.] Needless to say, many urologists strongly opposed the revised recommendation and the American Urological Association was quick to highlight their ?outrage.? I had one urologist post a dissenting opinion on the article I wrote in August.
Just last week, the USPTF came out in favor of HIV screening for all patients age 15-65 and pregnant women ? regardless of risk. The clinical rebuttal ? The Case Against Universal HIV Screening ? appeared the same day.
Healthcare pricing transparency is only a fractional first step on our way out of this wilderness. The financial data itself is also getting much easier to find. WalMart publishes their list of $4?prescriptions?here. The Surgery Center of?Oklahoma?publishes their cash price online here. The one caveat?
NOTE:?If you are scheduled for surgery at our facility and we are filing insurance for you, the following prices do not apply to you.
The real challenge ahead isn?t as much about pricing itself ? as value. That remains the real mystery ? and where we?ll continue to see strong resistance against real accountability. Paul Keckley ? Executive Director, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions ? said it best:
?It?s a dicey issue because on the one hand physicians expect high compensation based on their years of training and clinical expertise, but on the other hand they can resist efforts to provide data about their performance ??report cards if you will.?
We need a lot more than just pricing transparency in healthcare. We need industry transparency. Report cards like the one just released today by Leapfrog are just what the patient needs ? even if the Chief Medical Officer didn?t order it.
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CUAUHTEMOC, Mexico (Reuters) - More than a century after Mennonite farmers left Russia for North America in search of new lands and religious freedom, hundreds of their descendants in Mexico are thinking about completing the circle.
Shortage of farmland, drought and conflict with rivals have made some Mennonites in northern Mexico wonder if the best way of providing for their families is to go back to the plains of eastern Europe their ancestors left in the 19th century.
This summer a delegation of 11 Mexican Mennonites went to Tatarstan on the southern fringe of European Russia to look at land that could help them protect their spartan way of life from the impact of population growth and climate change.
"We're looking for a future for our children and grandchildren," said Peter Friesen, 59, one of the farmers who traveled to the town of Aznakayevo in August, himself the great-grandson of Mennonites born in the Russian Empire.
Descendants of 16th century Protestant Anabaptist radicals from Germany, the Low Countries and Switzerland, Mennonites rejected Church hierarchy and military service, suffering years of persecution and making them reliant on the patronage of rulers keen to exploit their dedication to farming and thrift.
Many Mennonites like Friesen living in the colonies around the city of Cuauhtemoc trace their origins to families that settled parts of Imperial Russia in modern Ukraine in the 18th century during the reign of Catherine the Great.
During the age of European nationalism, their freedoms came under threat and they began to leave for North America in the 1870s. More followed in the years of turmoil that convulsed Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution and the World Wars.
Still speaking Plautdietsch, a unique blend of Low German, Prussian dialects and Dutch, the Mennonites that came to Chihuahua state from Canada in the 1920s have helped turn some of the most barren expanses of northern Mexico into model farmland yielding tonnes of golden corn, beans, milk and cheese.
But as the fields in Chihuahua grew more plentiful, so did the Mennonites, who are named after 16th century Anabaptist leader Menno Simons, a Frisian. Anabaptists say believers should only be baptized once old enough to understand their faith.
WATER DISPUTE
Dressed in plain cotton trousers, a dark shirt and cap, Friesen uses short, simple sentences in Spanish, his face tanned from years spent harvesting crops under the cloudless skies of Chihuahua, which covers an area bigger than Britain.
Only when Friesen's mobile phone rings and he switches to Plautdietsch does the tempo change. Words trip off his tongue in a much softer cadence than High German, and are all but unintelligible to speakers of the modern language.
"You know we Mennonites always want to grow. And that's what we can't do here. Everything's already taken up," said the father of 13 and grandfather of 25.
Enrique Voth, who also went to Tatarstan, said farmland can be purchased there for a tenth of the price in Mexico. "We need ten times more than what we have," said the father of 11.
The "100 or so" families interested in Russia are still undecided about whether to go, partly because they did not find a single bloc of land big enough for them, said Friesen.
But his blue eyes glitter when he talks of the dark soil, mild climate and rich water supplies the Mennonites found in Tatarstan. Once part of the Mongol Golden Horde, an empire spanning Central Asia and eastern Europe, the republic harbors flat, fertile terrain fed by the Volga and Kama rivers.
Originally about 7,000 strong in Mexico, the Mennonites today farm about three quarters of the irrigated corn fields in Chihuahua. But much of the land is leased and their holdings have increased far slower than their population.
About 1,000 of the first settlers in Mexico returned to Canada, but the Mennonite population in Chihuahua alone is now probably about 60,000, said Peter Stoesz, director of a local Mennonite credit union known as UCACSA.
The Mennonites in Chihuahua started with around 100,000 hectares of land. Today, that holding may not be much more than 250,000 hectares, according to the state government.
Since last year's drought, the land shortage has been felt more keenly, and the Mennonites have been accused by a group of rival farmers known as Barzonistas of sinking 200 illegal wells to irrigate fields, damaging the local water supply.
Chihuahua's government says it has found a few dozen illegal wells, drilled using fake permits. It is still investigating how the permits were issued, and the Barzonistas are not happy.
"We're at a disadvantage, but we're Mexicans," said Barzonista Jacko Rodriguez, who believes the Mennonites have had preferential treatment in the water dispute. "We're going to stay here and we're going to live here. They are not."
The row has taken a number of ugly turns, giving further impetus to the Mennonites' desire to find new farmland.
This summer, one Barzonista declared the pacifist Mennonites were Germans, burning up Mexican lands like the Nazis burned Jews. And when a Barzonista leader was shot dead with his wife in October, some of them pointed the finger at the Mennonites.
"This has caused us a lot of worry," said Johan Peters, 45, a farmer, who said Mennonites were also looking at land in Argentina.
The Mennonites have denied any involvement in the deaths.
PACE OF CHANGE
During the 20th century, Mennonites fanned out into South America, Africa and India. Many preserved a lifestyle tied to tilling the soil, while adopting newer technology often still eschewed by their Anabaptist Amish cousins in America.
Lacking pasture and fields to sow, some in Chihuahua have given up farming, turning to services and handicrafts. A few have drifted into drug trafficking and prostitution, locals say.
But UCACSA estimates over two-thirds work in agriculture, which still dominates the rhythm of daily life. Sons may join fathers to work the fields from the age of 12 or younger.
"Farming is the healthiest work a person can have," said Voth from the Tatarstan delegation. "It's peaceful work without competition. With a business, you have to fight all the time."
Plenty of Mennonites in the area are skeptical the answer to the land shortage lies in Russia. Some say the families considering a move half way across the world have fallen behind. Others worry Mennonites are being swamped by the pace of change.
Though Chihuahua's Mennonites now use mobile phones, many still reject television. Some fret about the impact of the Internet on their children, who can see more and more of the world from the confines of their modest, monochrome bungalows.
"Some people are losing the true reason of being a Mennonite," said corn farmer Corny Kornelsen, 52. "They grab every new thing that comes their way. But they can't cope with all the new technologies."
(Additional reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr.; Editing by Kieran Murray and Todd Eastham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ancestral-russia-lures-land-hungry-mexican-mennonites-182804491.html
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If you?ve ever dreamed of combining your favourite sport with study, and working in the field sooner than later, then the SEDA program could appeal to the regions? talented youngsters.
SEDA is a state-wide sport development program that links an exciting educational pathway with the sport and recreation industry, and SEDA Torquay with Surfing Victoria have just launched their 2013 program. SEDA students can work towards VCE and VCAL certification, Certificate III and IV in sport and recreation, a Diploma of sport development and a host of other accreditations and opportunities, including working on major surfing events including the Rip Curl Pro.
Oscar Lalor, a surfer and musician from Apollo Bay, is part of the class of 2012, and has just begun work in the surf industry following completion of his studies last month. He came across the program whilst competing in surfing events in Torquay and has enjoyed the balance of acquiring both practical and theoretical knowledge.
?The program aims to prepare you for your future. I?ve been able to maintain focus and motivation by making the most of the opportunities the course has offered me (including) working as a surf judge, surf instructor, running surfing contests and maximising the experience I gain through work placement has proved beneficial.
?SEDA actually manages to balance both newly acquired knowledge and experience in order to prepare students for the workplace and ultimately adulthood. I would recommend the program to anyone who is looking to get a foot in the door into the surfing industry or who is looking for a more practical schooling experience.?
Lalor recently co-organised and commentated the hugely successful Surf Fest community surf event at Jan Juc and his qualifications include Certificate IV in sports development, sports trainer, level 1 surf judge and coach, and a Diploma of sports development.
Many students continue on to further study including degree courses in sports administration, teaching, coaching, sports management, business, sports marketing and exercise science, or the workforce.
Applications are now open for the 2013 program and places are filling fast. New sports offered in 2013 in Geelong include netball, basketball and soccer. Head to sedagroup.com.au for more information and to apply, or contact SEDA enrolment officer Aimee McKie on 9819 9669 or email info@sedagroup.com.au.
Source: http://www.surfcoasttimes.com.au/news/education/2012/12/09/surfing-and-study-with-seda/
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Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is helped off the field after an injury during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. Griffin suffered a sprained knee at the end of a 13-yard scramble. The Redskins won 31-28. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is helped off the field after an injury during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. Griffin suffered a sprained knee at the end of a 13-yard scramble. The Redskins won 31-28. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins spikes the ball after a two point conversion to tie the game and force overtime during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Washington Redskins inside linebacker Perry Riley (56) watches as Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta (88) pulls in a touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL football game in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco passes the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III passes the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Landover, Md., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) ? Robert Griffin III walked gingerly through the Washington Redskins locker room, his sprained right knee in a big black brace.
Teammates stood at their lockers, mixing the emotions of an improbable 31-28 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens with the fear that their franchise player could be seriously hurt.
"We're happy that we won, obviously," left tackle Trent Williams said. "But that is concerning, knowing he went down. Everyone wants to know how he's doing."
Griffin went down during Washington's final drive of regulation Sunday, with the Redskins trailing by eight. Fellow rookie Kirk Cousins, who had played in only one other game this season, stepped in and hit Pierre Garcon for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds remaining, then ran the quarterback draw for the 2-point conversion to tie the game.
Yet another rookie, Richard Crawford, returned a punt 64 yards in overtime to set up Kai Forbath's 34-yard game-winning field goal. The Redskins (7-6) have a four-game winning streak ? remaining one game behind the New York Giants in the race for the NFC East title ? but the day's most important result was still to come. About three hours after the game ended, the Redskins said an MRI exam showed no major ligament damage.
The worst-case scenario would have been a season-ending ACL tear, like the one Griffin had on the same knee while playing for Baylor in 2009. But team spokesman Tony Wyllie said the MRI showed "everything is clear" and ruled out that sort of significant injury.
At about the same time as Wyllie's announcement, Griffin tweeted: "Your positive vibes and prayers worked people!!!! To God be the Glory!"
Griffin had been confident that his injury wasn't serious.
"I'm not a doctor, but I know what an ACL feels like," Griffin said immediately after the game. "And it doesn't feel like an ACL. ... If I felt that, I'd be pretty nervous. But we won the game, everybody's praying for me, I feel pretty good right now about the whole situation."
With the Redskins trailing 28-20 after Ray Rice's 7-yard touchdown run with 4:47 to play, Griffin started moving his team before he was tackled by Haloti Ngata at the end of a 13-yard scramble.
"I knew as soon as I got hit. I screamed. Like a man, of course," Griffin added with a laugh. "It hurt really bad."
Griffin left for one play, then returned for four more, completing two passes to get the Redskins deep into Ravens territory. But he was also hopping on one leg. Eventually, he fell to the turf and could no longer continue.
"I knew I needed to get out at that point," Griffin said. "I couldn't move. At some point you have to do what's right for the team. And if I'm playing the rest of that game, I probably would have hurt myself even more."
In came fourth-round pick Cousins, who was a clutch 2 for 2 ? back-to-back to Leonard Hankerson for 15 yards and 11 yards to Garcon.
"He's ice. Like they used to say about Larry Bird, he got ice water in his veins. That's the best thing you can say about Kirk," receiver Joshua Morgan said. "He was coming like nothing was even going on."
Then came some Bird-level audaciousness ? the quarterback draw on the 2-point try, a call that Griffin heard through his headphones while getting treatment on the sideline.
"It was awesome," Griffin said.
The Ravens got the ball to start overtime but went three-and-out. Seventh-round pick Crawford, getting a chance to handle punts for the first time after a disappointing set of games from Brandon Banks, had the big return to Baltimore's 24-yard line, putting the Redskins easily within the range of Forbath, who hasn't missed in 14 attempts in his debut NFL season.
It was all part of a day of big-time contributions from first-year Redskins: Sixth-rounder Alfred Morris ran for 122 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown.
While the Redskins have been in must-win mode since dropping to 3-6, the Ravens (9-4) would have clinched the AFC North with a win. Instead, they ended a 15-game winning streak following a loss, dropping back-to-back games for the first time since 2009. They are 2-2 in their last four ? all decided by three points.
"As a leader on this team I like to finish teams out," said Rice, who ran for 121 yards on 20 carries. "I don't want to be known as 'Yeah, we get them close in the fourth quarter, and the Ravens are going to give it away.' That's never been us. That's not going to be us."
Joe Flacco completed 16 of 21 passes for 182 yards and three first-half touchdowns for the Ravens, and third-round pick Bernard Pierce ran for a season-high 53 yards. Anquan Boldin, who passed the 10,000-yard receiving mark, caught two touchdown passes and set up a third with a 28-yard catch-and-tiptoe-run down the sideline.
The big accomplishment for the Ravens defense was getting RG3 out of the game ? and they still couldn't win. After sweeping their three NFC East rivals in three weeks, the Redskins now have bragging rights over their neighbor to the north.
"We knew if we didn't get the win today, obviously those other three didn't mean a whole lot," Washington coach Mike Shanahan said. "I'm really proud of how the guys played."
NOTES: Ravens RG Marshal Yanda sprained his right ankle and wore a black walking boot on his foot in the locker room. LB Jameel McClain had a neck injury, but X-rays were negative. FB Vonta Leach sprained his ankle. Rice had a left hip pointer. ... The Redskins have their first four-game winning streak since 2008 and have six 30-point games, their most since 1996. ... Washington became the first team since the 1970 merger to have two rookie quarterbacks lead fourth-quarter comebacks in the same season.
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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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