Housing starts surge in positive sign for economy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Groundbreaking on new homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, a sign the housing sector's budding recovery is gaining traction and supporting the wider economic recovery.

Housing starts increased 15 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 units, beating even the most optimistic forecasts on Wall Street, Commerce Department data showed on Wednesday.

It was the quickest pace of groundbreaking since July 2008, though data on starts is volatile and subject to substantial revisions.

America's economy has shown signs of faster growth in recent months as the jobless rate has fallen and retail sales data has pointed to stronger consumer spending.

Wednesday's data showed that housing, which was battered by the 2007-09 recession, is increasingly one of the brighter spots in the economy.

"One of the big headwinds for the economy has been the weak housing market and this indicates that headwind has dissipated," said Gary Thayer, an economic strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis, Missouri.

Home building could add to growth this year for the first time since 2005 and the brighter economic signal is likely to be welcomed at the White House, where a sluggish economy is weighing on President Barack Obama's chances of re-election next month.

Economists estimate that for every new house built, at least three new jobs are created.

Groundbreaking on new homes rose across much of the country, and was up 20.1 percent in western states. It fell 5.1 percent in the Northeast, however.

Yields on U.S. government debt rose as investors bet the data pointed to a stronger economy.

On the U.S. stock market, the PHLX Housing Index of leading home builders climbed 4 percent as D.R. Horton advanced 5 percent. Home improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe's were also higher.

NOT YET NORMAL

Housing remains hampered by a glut of unsold homes, and the housing starts rate is still about 60 percent below its January 2006 peak.

Home building now makes up just over 2 percent of the economy, so it is unlikely to fuel a big acceleration in the recovery anytime soon. The European debt crisis looms heavily over the economic outlook, as does the possibility Washington could hike taxes and cut spending next year.

But every little bit helps, and more home building could partially compensate for recent weakness in factory output, which has been hit by sluggish export demand and cooling investment in capital goods.

"Things are lining up for housing," said John Canally, an economist at LPL Financial in Boston. "It's another step in the right direction, but you still have a long, long way to get back to 'normal' in housing."

September groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, rose 11 percent to a 603,000-unit pace - the highest level since August 2008. Starts for multi-family homes climbed 25.1 percent.

Building permits grew 11.6 percent to a 894,000-unit pace in September, beating economists' forecasts.

U.S. home sales have been creeping up and the steep decline in prices since 2006 appears to have bottomed. That has helped home-builder sentiment, which this month rose to a fresh six-year high.

In a bid to help the economy by encouraging people to buy homes, the Fed said last month it would buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities every month until the jobs outlook improves substantially.

The Fed's efforts to lower borrowing costs have pushed interest rates on 30-year mortgages to all-time lows. Last week, fixed 30-year mortgage rates rose 1 basis point to average 3.57 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell last week, but demand for purchase loans, a leading indicator of home sales, reached the highest level since June, the association said.

"It seems as though low interest rates and stable prices are starting to stir the interest of potential buyers," said Michael Moran, an economist at Daiwa Securities America in New York.

(Additional reporting by Atossa Abrahamian, Leah Schnurr and Ellen Freilich in New York; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/housing-starts-surge-fastest-pace-since-2008-123107329--business.html

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Overnight Reboot Thread (Little green footballs)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/256402900?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Will Beyonce Join The Ranks Of All-Time Greatest Super Bowl Performances?

Now that she's confirmed for the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show, we wonder if B can join U2, Prince and Diana Ross on the list of all-time greats.
By James Montgomery

Beyonc?
Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1695706/beyonce-super-bowl-performance.jhtml

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Top cats snap: Fur flies outside UK PM's home

Steve Back / Rex Features

British Prime Minister David Cameron's cat Larry and Chancellor George Osborne's cat Freya fight in Downing Street, London, on Tuesday.

By Pete Jeary, NBC News

LONDON - Downing Street, where the head of Britain's government resides right next door to the man who holds the nations' purse strings,?has witnessed its fair share of spats over the years.

But the fur flew for real Tuesday when two cats from each official residence -- known?colloquially as Number 10 and Number 11 --?traded paws in a brief bout of feline fury.

Larry, Prime Minister David Cameron's cat, was pictured taking a claw to the throat from Freya, Chancellor George Osborne's pet.

Witnesses said Larry quickly withdrew to the safety of his home, leaving Freya one-up in the cat-on-cat contest.

Read the story by NBC News' British partner ITV News

This is not the first time that Larry has let down the side since joining Downing Street from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, an animal shelter in southwest London, almost two years ago. ?He was brought in on the reputed strength of his mousing skills to deal with at least one rat seen scurrying past the door of Number 10. (Click here to see Number 10's official version on Storify).

But his career got off to a rocky start, drawing blood from a TV reporter.

Click here for more stories about Larry the cat ?

To compound this first PR faux pas, it took Larry months to nail his first rodent victim, the Guardian reported.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/17/14502283-top-cats-snap-fur-flies-outside-uk-pms-home?lite

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US pushes Afghans as security deteriorates | Pakistan Today ...

BARAKI RAJAN?-?As the smoke drifted across the field after the explosion, Private Ryan Thomas lay on his back, blood spattered over his face and teeth and his right sock soaked red.

This is Baraki Rajan in Logar south of Kabul, a province which US commanders describe as a key battleground in the fight against the Taliban insurgency.

Ears still ringing, Sergeant Anthony Pascarella radioed in the attack. "I think we've just hit an IED (improvised explosive device). We have a casualty."

Firefights in the Baraki Rajan district are already frequent. The pockmarked walls of the gym on the US outpost bear witness to mortar, grenade and artillery attacks.

But Thomas was the first American hurt by a roadside bomb since the current crop of troops arrived at their outpost in July.

Despite another sign of worsening security in the area, US officers here -- as elsewhere in Afghanistan -- are pushing Afghan forces into a more independent role.

They are spurred by the unprecedented insider threat that has seen 51 Western soldiers killed by their Afghan colleagues this year and the 2014 deadline for foreign troops to withdraw.

The question is: do Afghans have the capacity and willingness to go it alone in the face of such a resilient enemy?

US commanders say a record number of foreign fighters flooded in over the summer, many from Pakistan. They were capitalising on the assassination of a popular police chief as well as public fury at a NATO air strike that killed up to 18 civilians in June.

Officers now fear that bombs like the one last Saturday could become a growing threat, with Taliban fighters bedding down for the winter and less inclined to fight toe-to-toe.

Colonel Andrew Rohling, commander of 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team with soldiers spread across Logar and neighbouring Wardak, said these were "key" provinces as forces try to maintain a security ring around the capital.

He said militants including those loyal to the Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network whose leaders are based in Pakistan, are jockeying for influence ahead of 2014.

"If you're Haqqani and you want to have a say in what happens after 2014 but don't posture yourself geographically or politically you're not going to have a say. So you're seeing a lot of this posturing, especially as you get closer to Kabul."

US officers say the insider attacks have have had the positive effect of forcing Afghan police, soldiers and intelligence to work more closely together, and become more proactive and independent.

Afghans based in Baraki Barak, near Baraki Rajan, have patrolled without the Americans since NATO cut back joint operations last month due to the insider attacks.

In Logar, the United States has already reduced the number of its bases from 16 to nine. Six weeks ago US troops handed control to Afghans in violence-plagued Kherwar in the south of the province.

Since then, US Lieutenant Colonel James Wright, commander of 1st Squadron (Airborne), 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd, says there have been only two attacks on the local base.

"In the case of Kherwar you can make a very strong argument that we were the source of instability as opposed to the solution for instability," he told AFP.

But Afghan commanders complain of a lack of support and fear the Taliban will gain ground.

Captain Abdullah Ardil said attacks had dwindled because the army refused to patrol far out of their base, while the Taliban presence in the area had increased.

Like many Afghan commanders, he wants more weapons, security personnel and air support.

"In Kherwar they didn't get enough personnel and they weren't given night vision goggles," he said. "If that happens here the security will be very bad."

But after 11 years of war, billions of dollars and more than 2,135 US soldiers killed, American military engagement is in decline.

Top brass no longer talk of winning but of leaving an Afghan force capable of withstanding the insurgency. But in Baraki Barak, relations are often tense.

Last week Afghan soldiers broke into a US food store and ransacked supplies. The week before, returning from a night patrol, they broke down the gate because they did not want to wait for a key.

Wright says the Afghans must succeed without resources like US helicopters and drones. "They beat the Soviets, they beat the British. I know they don't need all that technology," he said.

"They need confidence, they need good leadership, they need flexibility. An Afghan victory just looks a lot different to a US victory."

Thomas was wounded as soldiers searched vehicles for weapons and ammunition along a dirt road -- a dangerous operation that leaves them vulnerable to suicide and car bomb attacks.

After the blast, medic Reginald Dean rolled around with his hands on his ears with concussion.

But seeing his wounded comrade, he stepped into action, cutting away the 21-year-old's bloodied trousers to reveal a wound to the right calf and two deep lacerations to the left buttock.

"This is gonna suck," he said before using his fingers to push gauze deep into one of the holes to stop the bleeding.

After surgery, Thomas was to be flown to a US base in Germany to recuperate.

"You'll soon be having a beer back in Germany," one comrade said as Thomas was stretchered across the field to an emergency helicopter.

For the Afghans, there will be no such relief.

Source: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/10/16/news/foreign/us-pushes-afghans-as-security-deteriorates/

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New Nigeria museum fetes late Afrobeat singer Fela

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? "FELA LIVES," reads the Gothic-lettered tattoo on the back of one of the sons of the legendary Afrobeat singer from Nigeria. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died 15 years ago but his name seems to be mentioned more now than ever.

Radio stations across Africa's most populous nation continue to play his trumpet-and-saxophone-infused songs, the girlish cries of his female backup singers ringing out of tinny speakers in crowded buses. Leaders he linked in songs to corruption remain close to the levers of power in this oil-rich but poverty-stricken country. He's a legend among unemployed gang members and academics alike and was the subject of a smash Broadway musical produced by some of the biggest celebrities in the U.S.

Now, the family house where his remains lie has become a government-endorsed museum that offers a look inside his life, as well as the challenges still facing Nigeria years after his death.

"In one of his songs, (Fela) said it takes 10 years for us to catch up to his message," said Theo Lawson, the architect who helped design the new museum. "The expectation, I think, would be that the people would rise up and demand their rights and this didn't happen because everybody was scared.

"Fela's been dead for 15 years and unfortunately, we're still where we are. It's probably longer than he anticipated."

Fela created Afrobeat in the late 1960s, mixing the rhythm of jazz, the catchiness of pop music and traditions of African mysticism into 10-minute-long songs riffing on politics and sex in a nation only recently freed from colonialism. He embraced the idea of pan-African leadership and openly criticized the military rulers who revolved in and out of power in Nigeria when others had been cowed into silence.

Many in Nigeria, at times a very religious and conservative nation, shied away from Fela over his heavily publicized sexual appetite and marijuana use. His escapades became the fodder for endless and titillating newspaper headlines, including marrying more than 20 women at the same time, living in a free-sex commune and smoking massive spliffs during performances. The military and police, never amused, conducted raid after raid on his home, which he declared the Kalakuta Republic. In one such assault, soldiers so severely beat Fela's mother, an activist in her own right, that she later died of her injuries.

Those government crackdowns, as well as disapproval of his lifestyle, stopped some Nigerians from accepting Fela, said Lemi Ghariokwu, who designed many of the musician's album covers. That coldness continued even after Fela died in 1997 of complications brought on by AIDS. The disease sapped his energy to perform in his last years, even though he dismissed AIDS in song and called safe sex "unnatural." His children since have been advocates of safe sex and AIDS awareness.

"If you go to Jamaica, there's a Bob Marley museum," Ghariokwu said, mentioning another singer with an affinity for marijuana. "The government of Jamaica gave Bob Marley (one of) its highest national honors, because they can see beyond."

While Fela's son Femi Kuti performs at The New Afrika Shrine, which is in honor of his father's former performance space, family and friends wanted a formal place to honor the musician. They decided to remodel the family home, which sits on a narrow street in Lagos' sprawling Ikeja neighborhood near the city's international airport. The Kalakuta Museum includes a wall holding Fela's shoes, photographs of him and his family, murals and album art. It also features his room as he left it at the time of his death, with VHS tapes, a giant inflatable globe and racks of clothes hanging above a simple twin bed. Pillows and a sheet lay nearby, a remembrance of how he slept on the floor, weakened as AIDS slowly killed him, Ghariokwu said.

On Monday, which would have been Fela's 74th birthday, his sons Seun and Femi and daughter Yeni celebrated the opening of the museum, which will include a boutique hotel and a rooftop lounge and concert space. The opening comes during Felabration, an annual week of concerts put on by his children to honor their father's musical legacy.

Lagos state government provided $250,000 for remodeling the home into a museum, Lawson said. Yet Femi Kuti made a point to say the family will continue to say whatever it feels like saying.

"We are not a family that is supporting the government, because of what my father stood for," he said. But he applauded local officials for "being brave enough to be identified with the name that many people fear and shy away from."

As he spoke, a giant diesel generator nearby kicked on, drowning out his words and showing how electric power remains out of reach for many in Nigeria. Later, someone tried to walk off with a pair of Fela's shoes from the racks hanging in the museum, a sign of the country's struggles with lawlessness.

But Fela's now-grown children laughed and smiled, shouted and waved as they walked past portraits showing them as infants with unlined faces. By the end, they rushed down several flights of stairs, champagne flutes in hand, laughing and calling out: "Soldiers coming!"

Below, their father's crypt sat just in front of the museum. A green bottle of schnapps lay on the tomb's steps, as if someone awaited his company for one more drink.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-museum-fetes-afrobeat-singer-fela-092653001.html

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Arcade Styled Pinball for iPad

My life-long fantasy of owning a full-sized pinball machine seems pretty ridiculous now that the iPad has gotten so darn close to simulating the real thing. Duo Pinball has come out with Arcade Styled Pinball for iPad, and all that you need to play is an iPad and the Duo Pinball Controller. Then you just simply download the free Pinball HD Collection app from the App Store and?vo?la? you?re ready to engage in pinball mania.

With Duo Pinball, you can switch between different-themed pinball tables to keep things exciting. And if you want to take full advantage, try playing pinball wearing 3D glasses to appreciate the 3D cinematic graphics.

Duo Pinball ? The App-Supported Pinball Controller for iPad

• Requires iPad
• Portable, easy to use Pinball dock
• Sturdy buttons on side and spring release
• Operates equally well hand-held or as a table-top stand
• Tables include: Wild West, The Deep, Snow, DaVinci, Jungle Style and many more
• Designed for iPad, but also compatible with iPhone and iPod
• Connects wirelessly
• 3x AA (included)

When your iPad is joined with the controller, you get the chance to pull the spring-loaded plunger to launch the ball and?smack arcade-like left and right flipper buttons with reckless abandon. This beats computer pinball where you?re limited to using the space bar and arcade wannabe keyboard buttons. For your comfort, the controller holds the iPad at an optimized viewing angle so that you don?t have to strain your eyes and neck.

You might think that the pinball table image on the iPad screen would be still and rigid throughout the game, but that?s not the case. During the game, you will get zoomed in as the image moves wherever the pinball goes. It?s almost as if you are a ghost hovering over and controlling the pinball. Check out the video for a test drive.

You can find the Arcade Styled Pinball for iPad controller at?Firebox.com?for ?49.99, and on the other side of the Atlantic, the controller should soon be available, if not already, at Amazon.com, Target, Best Buy and the Apple Store for around $60.

While this particular controller is made for the iPad, it is compatible with the majority of Apple iPhones and the 4th and 5th generations of iPod Touch. But to get the arcade experience with these smaller devices, you could try hooking up to the iPhone Pinball Magic Desktop Pinball Machine that GeekAlerts featured last year. It actually looks like a mini pinball machine and has the side buttons and spring launcher as well. However, this machine requires downloading a different pinball game app.

Source: http://www.geekalerts.com/arcade-styled-pinball-for-ipad/

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