Obama sending Syrian ambassador back to Damascus (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A senior Obama administration official says the United States is sending its top envoy to Syria back to Damascus after recalling him Oct. 22 amid worsening violence.

The official says ambassador Robert Ford is due to return Tuesday. The administration has argued that his presence in Syria is important for advancing U.S. policy goals and serving as a witness to the ongoing violence there. Syria had responded by recalling its ambassador.

Ford had been due to return in late November but security concerns prompted the administration to delay his trip. U.S. officials said Ford would be meeting with opposition figures in Syria.

Ford's presence in Syria was a symbolic part of President Barack Obama's effort to engage Damascus, which was without a U.S. ambassador for years after the Bush administration broke ties over Syria's alleged role in the 2005 assassination of a political candidate in neighboring Lebanon. The officials commented on grounds of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

___

Anne Gearan reported from Geneva.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_syria

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Raptors' Andrea Bargnani fired up about new NBA season

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Romney, Gingrich proceed carefully in GOP showdown (AP)

MANCHESTER, N.H. ? The once-bursting 2012 Republican presidential field is narrowing to a two-man race, and GOP voters have one month before casting the first votes to winnow it to one. Barring a dramatic new turn, their chief options will be the steady but often bland demeanor of Mitt Romney and the idea-a-minute bombast of Newt Gingrich.

Herman Cain's suspension of his campaign Saturday, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry's continued struggles to regain traction, have focused the party's attention on Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and Gingrich, the former House speaker. They offer striking contrasts in personality, government experience and campaign organization.

Romney has maintained a political infrastructure since his 2008 presidential bid, especially in New Hampshire. Gingrich, whose campaign nearly collapsed several months ago, is relying much more heavily on his televised debate performances and the good will he built up with conservatives as a congressional leader in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gingrich's and Romney's political philosophies and differences are a bit harder to tease out. Both men have changed their positions on issues such as climate change. And Gingrich, in particular, is known to veer into unusual territories, such as child labor practices.

Cain's announcement in Atlanta offered a possible opening for Romney or Gingrich to make a dramatic move in hopes of seizing momentum for the sprint to the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus. Neither man did. They appear willing to play things carefully and low-key for now.

At a town hall meeting in New York sponsored by tea party supporters, Gingrich declined to characterize the race as a direct contest between himself and Romney. Any of the remaining GOP contenders could stage a comeback before the Iowa caucuses, he said. "I'm not going to say that any of my friends can't suddenly surprise us," Gingrich said.

But once high-flying contenders such as Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota have not managed to bounce back so far, despite weeks of trying.

Romney seemed as eager as Gingrich to avoid casting the contest as anywhere close to decided. He repeatedly turned aside reporters' invitations to light into Gingrich, offering only gentle critiques. As usual, he aimed much sharper remarks at President Barack Obama.

"I don't think people have really settled down, in a final way, to decide who they're going to support in the nomination process," Romney told reporters in Manchester, where he held a rally and knocked on a few doors. "I hope they give us a good, careful look."

That was about as much emotion and daring as he showed all day. With the second-tier candidates ramping up their criticisms of Gingrich, Romney stuck to his steady-as-she-goes campaign style of criticizing Obama's economic record, and saying little else.

Cain's once-prospering campaign was undone by allegations of sexual wrongdoing. Gingrich has been the most obvious beneficiary of Cain's precipitous slide. But Perry, Bachmann and possibly others are likely to make a play for Cain's anti-establishment tea party backing. Time is running short for them to establish themselves as the top alternative to Romney, who has long been viewed with suspicion by many conservatives.

Cain said he would offer an endorsement. His former rivals were quick to issue statements on Saturday praising his conservative ideals and grassroots appeal.

Romney seemed loath on Saturday to criticize Gingrich or to stir the political waters. Reporters asked why his background makes him more qualified than Gingrich. "Speaker Gingrich has been a legislator and has worked in government affairs, and he can describe his own background," Romney replied.

Why are his positions better than Gingrich's on issues such as immigration, Romney was asked. "We have very similar views on a whole host of issues," he said. "There are some places, I'm sure, where there are differences." The biggest difference, he said, is "our life experience."

Asked if he fears that Gingrich will draw more tea party support, Romney said tea party activists "want someone who comes from outside Washington," someone who has spent his life "in the private sector, who has learned the experiences of the American economy."

"Speaker Gingrich is a fine person," Romney said, "but he spent his life in Washington, the last 40 years. That doesn't exactly line up with the tea party."

He also said he differed with Gingrich on child labor laws. Gingrich recently suggested that children as young as nine should work as assistant school janitors, to earn money and learn work ethics.

Romney noted that Gingrich would end taxes on dividends and capital gains for everyone, whereas Romney would keep them in place for the wealthiest Americans.

Romney's generally mild reproofs contrast with the hits Gingrich is taking from rivals such as Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Paul's campaign is airing a video accusing Gingrich of "serial hypocrisy." It shows Gingrich in a TV commercial with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talking about the dangers of climate change.

Gingrich has called the Pelosi spot a stupid mistake on his part.

Romney's campaign had hundreds of volunteers knocking on doors and making phone calls Saturday, pushing a slogan that presidential hopefuls must "earn it."

Romney has a vacation home in New Hampshire, where he is well known. His campaign structure there isn't perfect, however.

Aides sent reporters to 827 Chestnut Street in Manchester, where Romney would start some door-knocking of his own. But there was no one home at 827, or the next house he tried, or the three after that. In nearly an hour of door-knocking, Romney met only a handful of voters, and all of them already seemed in his corner.

Asked at the day's end why he was being so gentle with Gingrich, Romney replied: "I think the right course for me is to continue talking about my vision for the country, my experience, and how I'd lead the nation. And Speaker Gingrich will get the chance to do the same thing."

___

Fouhy reported from New York.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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Neil Patrick Harris apologizes for slur on "Live!" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? You just know that Regis Philbin would never find himself in this kind of mess -- mainly because he probably doesn't know what a "tranny" is.

Neil Patrick Harris found himself in apology mode Friday, after catching flak for using the phrase "tranny" on Thursday's "Live! With Kelly."

"Truly sorry for saying the word 'tranny' on Live this week. Twice!" Harris wrote on his Twitter account. "Should have been more thoughtful. Didn't at all mean to offend."

Harris' gaffe came during his guest-hosting stint, during a segment with Science Bob, who introduced Harris and Kelly Ripa to the joys of sulfur hexafluoride, referred to as "helium's evil twin" by the visiting science expert.

Taking a huff and marveling at the voice-deepening properties of the substance, Harris busted out a Darth Vader impression. Then, recognizing how much he sounded like the "Silence of the Lambs" character Buffalo Bill, he intoned, "Put the lotion in the basket!"

As his voice returned to normal, Harris cracked, "I've never sounded more like a tranny in my life." (Presumably, Harris was referring to Buffalo Bill, not Darth Vader.)

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation lauded Harris's mea culpa, noting, "It's heartening to see a celebrity of Harris' stature recognize and apologize for using the slur in such a timely manner, and for greater media attention being paid to its use. Many people do not realize that the word "tr*nny" is one of the most hurtful and dehumanizing slurs that transgender people hear. Most transgender people associate that word with personal experiences of violence, hatred and derision."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/tv_nm/us_neilpatrickharris

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Does WiFi damage sperm? (The Week)

New York ? A new study suggests that wireless signals could harm a man's fertility

Men could be jeopardizing their future children every time they rest a WiFi-equipped laptop on their lap. New research, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, suggests that prolonged exposure to wireless internet signals may have the nasty side effect of killing sperm. Here's what scientists found:

How was the test conducted?
Researchers placed semen samples from 29 healthy men under a laptop connected to the Internet via WiFi, then hit download. To make sure that any changes weren't the result of the heat generated by the computer, they also put a control group of sperm samples under a laptop that was on, but not wirelessly connected.

SEE ALSO: The faces of early man

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And what happened?
After four hours, 25 percent of the sperm exposed to WiFi stopped moving, and 9 percent showed DNA damage. In contrast, the control group had 14 percent stop moving, with only 3 percent of cells showing evidence of DNA damage.

Why did WiFi kill the semen?
The culprit is likely electromagnetic radiation from the WiFi signal, although we should be "cautious to infer" a direct link, says one fertility expert. While the experiment was "well conducted," sperm that's already been ejaculated is "particularly sensitive to many factors" because "they don't have the protection of other cells" once outside the body.

SEE ALSO: The $345,000 burger grown in a petri dish: By the numbers?

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So what should men do?
For now, it's best to exercise caution and keep computers off the lap ? last year, similar research demonstrated that the hot underside of laptops also killed off sperm cells. "So between the heat and the radiation from today's electronic devices," says Frederik Joelving at Reuters, "testicles would seem to be hard-pressed."

Sources: BBC News,?Medical News Today,?Reuters

SEE ALSO: Why does entering a room make you forget things?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20111201/cm_theweek/221943

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Labor market seen improving, but pace glacial (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Employment growth likely picked up speed in November, but the pace is not expected to be quick enough to bring down the country's 9 percent jobless rate.

Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 122,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists, which would outpace October's 80,000.

The poll was conducted before a report on Wednesday that showed private companies hired the most workers in nearly a year in November. That report suggested Friday's broader gauge of nonfarm employment could rise by as much as 150,000, some analysts said.

"The labor market is gradually healing. It's a glacial pace, but we are taking small steps in the right direction," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The Labor Department will release its closely followed employment data at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT).

The report is unlikely to take much pressure off President Barack Obama, whose economic stewardship will face the judgment of voters next November. The outlook for the U.S. economy is also being threatened by Europe's ongoing financial crisis.

Unless the jobs report is far off consensus, it is not seen as proving decisive for the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is weighing whether the recovery needs further monetary policy support.

Many analysts think the relative strength of the report will in keeping with a recent trend, be bolstered by upward revisions to the employment counts for September and October.

"The (Bureau of Labor Statistics) has the tendency to delay the count of small business employment; that's the way their model and collection of data work," said Adolfo Laurenti, deputy chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago.

Data ranging from manufacturing to retail sales suggest the pace of expansion could top 3 percent, in contrast to China, where growth is cooling and much of Europe, where growth has stalled.

While the economy's growth pace appears to have accelerated from the third quarter's 2 percent annual rate, it is still insufficient to cut into the high unemployment rate, and Europe's festering debt crisis poses a big threat.

FISCAL DRAG IN 2012

At the same time, U.S. fiscal policy is set to tighten in the new year, even if lawmakers extend a payroll tax cut.

Taken together, some analysts believe the headwind facing the U.S. economy will lead the Fed to ease monetary policy further by buying more bonds.

"We still have a very long way to go; the unemployment rate is barely budging. I would favor the Fed going for a third round of quantitative easing," Sweet said. "It's the only powerful tool left, even though it's losing some of its bang."

Though the economy emerged from recession two years ago, about 25 million Americans are either out of work or underemployed, a fact that is hurting Obama's chances of winning a second term.

Analysts say the economy needs to create at least 125,000 jobs every month just to keep the unemployment rate steady. So far this year, job growth has averaged 125,600 jobs a month. At that pace, it would take about 4-1/2 years for employment just to return to where it was when the recession started.

But there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic.

While the government's survey of employers has shown a still tepid pace of job growth, its separate poll of households that is used to calculate the unemployment rate has suggested more-robust jobs gains.

At the same time, a broad measure of unemployment that includes people who want to work but have given up looking for jobs and those working only part time for economic reasons dropped to 16.2 percent in October from September's nine-month high of 16.5 percent.

And the average duration of unemployment in October eased off the record high of 40.5 weeks hit in September.

PRIVATE SECTOR SHOULDERS BURDEN

All the expected increase in nonfarm payrolls in November will again come from the private sector, where employment is seen rising 140,000 after increasing 104,000 in October.

Government employment is expected to fall by 18,000. Public payrolls have dropped in nine of the past 10 months as state and local governments have tightened their belts.

Outside of government, job gains are likely to be almost across the board, although retail employment is bit of a wild card because of difficulties of anticipating seasonal swings as stores gear up for holiday sales.

Elsewhere, construction payrolls are expected to rebound after losing 20,000 jobs in October, and factors jobs are also seen increasing, with most of the boost from automakers.

Health care and social assistance hiring is expected to pick up after adding the smallest number of jobs in nearly two years in October. Temporary hiring - seen as a harbinger for future hiring - is also expected to show more gains.

The average work week is seen steady at 34.3 hours, with hourly earnings expected to have increased 0.2 percent after rising by a similar margin in October. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; editing by Gary Crosse)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/ts_nm/us_usa_economy

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GOP: Offsetting cuts must cover payroll tax relief (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Republican congressional leaders stressed a willingness Wednesday to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut due to expire Dec. 31, setting up a year-end clash with Democrats over how to pay for a provision at the heart of President Barack Obama's jobs program.

"We just think we shouldn't be punishing job creators to pay for it," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, scorning a Democratic proposal to raise taxes on million-dollar income earners.

Instead, Senate Republicans called for a gradual reduction in the size of the federal bureaucracy, as well as steps to make sure that million-dollar earners don't benefit from unemployment benefits or food stamps. They also recommended raising Medicare premiums for individuals with incomes over $750,000 a year.

House Speaker John Boehner said flatly that any tax cut extension will be offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget to avoid raising federal deficits. Numerous Republican officials noted that Obama had said the same thing was true of the plan he unveiled in a nationally televised speech to Congress in September.

The events in Congress, coupled with Obama's fresh appeal for renewal of the payroll tax cut while speaking Wednesday in Scranton, Pa., indicated that leaders in both parties want to seek a compromise less than a week after Congress' high-profile supercommittee failed to find common ground on a related economic issue, a plan to reduce deficits.

Yet nearly a full year before the 2012 elections, it also appeared that lawmakers in both parties are eager to compete for the political high ground before any compromise can be struck on the payroll tax or an extension of unemployment benefits that Republicans also said they might approve.

In a visit to blue-collar northeastern Pennsylvania, Obama warned of a "massive blow to the economy" if Republicans oppose his call for a renewal of the payroll tax cut approved a year ago as a way to stimulate economic growth.

"Are you going to cut taxes for the middle class and those who are trying to get into the middle class, or are you going to protect massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires?" he said, referring to Republicans.

"Are you going to ask a few hundred thousand people who have done very, very well to do their fair share or are you going to raise taxes for hundreds of millions of people across the country?"

Senate Democrats have set a vote for later in the week to pay for the tax cut renewal by imposing a permanent 3.25 percent surtax on individuals or couples earning more than $1 million a year, a political maneuver designed to cast Republicans as the protectors of the wealthy at a time when unemployment is at 9 percent nationally.

The proposal has no chance of gaining the 60-vote Senate majority needed for approval.

The Senate Republican alternative, unveiled in late afternoon, envisions extending an existing pay freeze for government workers through 2015 ? a provision that would apply to lawmakers. It also proposed gradually cutting the government workforce by 10 percent, or 200,000 positions.

Additionally, Republicans recommended taxing away the value of unemployment benefits and denying food stamps to any household with an income of $1 million or more, as well as raising the Medicare premium paid by individuals who earn more than $750,000 a year.

Republicans said their proposal would raise about $221 billion over a decade, covering the cost of a one-year extension of the existing payroll tax cut and leaving $111.5 billion left over for deficit reduction.

"The Democrats can say they just want some people to pay a little bit more to cover this or that dubious proposal," said McConnell, who also noted that there were misgivings inside his party over Obama's proposed tax cut extension.

"Think about that. The Democrats' response to the jobs crisis we're in right now is to raise taxes on those who create jobs. This isn't just counterproductive. It's absurd."

Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the GOP plan as written won't pass. "Now that Republicans have reversed their position on this middle-class tax cut, we look forward to working with them to negotiate a consensus solution," he added.

The extension of unemployment benefits is also included in the jobs program Obama announced in the fall, at a cost of $48.5 billion over a decade.

The overall cost of Obama's plan was $447 billion over 10 years, and his recommendations concerning the payroll tax account for well half the amount.

Under bipartisan legislation Obama signed late last year, the 6.2 percent payroll tax paid by workers on incomes up to $106,800 was cut to 4.2 percent through the end of 2011. The president has proposed reducing that further, to 3.1 percent, for 2012.

In addition, he is asking lawmakers to grant a similar tax break to businesses by halving the 6.2 percent they pay on workers' wages, up to $5 million in payroll.

Those two changes carry a cost of $247.5 billion, according to the White House.

The millionaires' surtax was a late change in the president's proposal, insisted upon by Senate Democrats who balked at some of Obama's initial proposals.

Initially, Obama proposed higher taxes on family incomes over $250,000 and on the oil and gas industry.

The first request troubled Democratic senators from states like New York, New Jersey and California, where large numbers of families would be hit by the increase. The second drew opposition most prominently from Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, whose state is home to numerous oil and gas operations.

The president also proposed higher taxes on hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners.

Those increases also disappeared, although supercommittee Republicans said they would be willing to accept the corporate jet increase as part of a deal that made big cuts in federal spending.

___

Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_payroll_tax

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