Conservative group wins Macedonia local elections

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) ? Macedonia's conservative coalition won most of the local elections in the country with outside observers approving the process, but the opposition party's leader objected, declaring the elections "were not free and fair."

Electoral Commission information from 98 percent of the votes shows the coalition "For a better Macedonia," led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE party, won 43 of the country's 81 communities in the first round of elections Sunday. The party notably won the election in the capital, Skopje, and is favored to win 12 runoffs on Sunday.

Outside election monitors said the elections were "efficiently administered" but were also critical of some aspects.

Gruevski proclaimed victory early Monday, adding that Macedonia had organized "free, fair and democratic elections that brought victory to all citizens and Macedonia", which will help the country to strengthen its case for European Union membership.

But Social Democrat leader Branko Crvenkovski, head of the left-wing opposition and a former president of Macedonia, said the elections "were not free and fair. Until all irregularities are cleared we have all options open, including not to participate in the rerun."

The Social Democrats won five municipalities and are considered favorites to win another two in the runoffs. Members of the country's Roma, Serbian and Turkish communities each won a municipal election.

In a joint report, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe approved of the administration of the elections, saying they were "highly competitive" but stopped short of total approval of the process.

"Although the campaign was active, partisan media coverage and a blurring of state and party activities did not always provide a level playing field for candidates to contest the elections. Inter-ethnic tensions overshadowed the campaign. Election day was calm, although some procedural irregularities were observed," the report said.

These "procedural irregularities" included dozens of cases described as "family voting" ? with one family member openly guiding others as to which candidate to vote for, and voters seen taking photos of their ballots with cell phones ? possibly to offer proof to people to whom they'd promised to vote a certain way.

The report also noted that "although the media ... provided extensive campaign coverage in the news, the public broadcaster and several private broadcasters displayed bias in favor of the governing coalition."

The Social Democrats had joined the elections at the last moment. They had boycotted the Parliament for more than two months but ended the boycott earlier this month after talks brokered by the European Parliament and the EU Commission. EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele had said the opposition's participation in the local elections is crucial for Macedonia's EU candidacy.

Voter turnout was 67.61 percent, among the highest since Macedonia proclaimed its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/conservative-group-wins-macedonia-local-elections-193750621.html

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Kerry warns Iraq on Iran flights to Syria

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Just days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confronted Baghdad for continuing to grant Iran access to its airspace and said Iraq's behavior was raising questions about its reliability as a partner.

Speaking to reporters during a previously unannounced trip to Baghdad, Kerry said that he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had engaged in "a very spirited discussion" on the Iranian flights, which U.S. officials believe are ferrying weapons and fighters intended for the embattled Syrian government.

Kerry said the plane shipments ? along with material being trucked across Iraqi territory from Iran to Syria ? were helping President Bashar Assad's regime cling to power by increasing their ability to strike at Syrian rebels and opposition figures demanding Assad's ouster.

"I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down and to see a democratic process take hold ... anything that supports President Assad is problematic," Kerry said at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after meeting separately with Maliki at his office. "And I made it very clear to the Prime Minister that the overflights from Iran are, in fact, helping to sustain President Assad and his regime."

The overflights in Iraq have long been a source of contention between the U.S. and Iraq. Iraq and Iran claim the flights are carrying humanitarian goods, but American officials say they are confident that the planes are being used to arm the support the Assad regime. The administration is warning Iraq that unless action is taken, Iraq will be excluded from the international discussion about Syria's political future.

U.S. officials say that in the absence of a complete ban on flights, Washington would at least like the planes to land and be inspected in Iraq to ensure that they are carrying humanitarian supplies. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton secured a pledge from Iraq to inspect the flights last year, but since then only two aircraft have been checked by Iraqi authorities, according to U.S. officials.

One senior U.S. official traveling with Kerry said the sheer number of overflights, which occur "close to daily," along with shipments trucked to Syria from Iran through Iraq, was inconsistent with claims they are only carrying humanitarian supplies. The official said it was in Iraq's interest to prevent the situation in Syria from deteriorating further, particularly as there are fears that al-Qaida-linked extremists may gain a foothold in the country as the Assad regime falters.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said there are clear links between al-Qaida linked extremists operating in Syria and militants who are also carrying out terrorist attacks in Iraqi territory with increasing regularity.

Kerry's comments in Baghdad come as U.S. lawmakers are calling for President Barack Obama to do more to stop the bloodshed in Syria, including possible airstrikes against Assad's aircraft fleet.

The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, said Sunday the U.S. should create a "safe zone" in northern Syria that would give the U.S. more leverage with opposition forces.

"This doesn't mean the 101st Airborne Division and ships" are deployed, Rogers told CBS' "Face the Nation." ''It means small groups with special capabilities reengaging the opposition so we can vet them, train them, equip them so they can be an effective fighting force."

Last week, Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., asked Obama in a letter to step up U.S. military efforts in the region, including destroying Assad's aircraft using precision airstrikes.

Kerry said Iraq's tacit approval of Iranian overflights left the American people wondering how an ally would undermine U.S. efforts, particularly after the enormous sacrifices made by the United States in liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule.

"There are members of Congress and people in America who increasingly are watching what Iraq is doing and wondering how it is that a partner in the efforts for democracy and a partner for whom Americans feel they have tried so hard to be helpful, how that country can be, in fact, doing something that makes it more difficult to achieve our common goals, the goal expressed by the prime minister with respect to Syria and President Assad," he said.

In addition to the overflights, Kerry said he had urged Maliki and other Iraqi officials to promote unity amid a spike in sectarian violence and called on them to ensure that upcoming provincial elections are free and fair. Kerry said the postponement of the polls in two provinces ? Anbar and Ninevah ? was unacceptable and should be reversed.

"We strongly urge the prime minister to take this issue to the cabinet and to see if it can be revisited, because we believe very strongly that everybody needs to vote simultaneously," he said.

In addition to his meeting with Maliki, Kerry saw Iraqi parliament speaker parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, whose faction is at odds with Maliki's Shiia. Kerry also spoke by phone with Massoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdish Regional Government based in Irbil to encourage the Kurds not go ahead with unilateral actions ? especially involving oil, like a pipeline deal with Turkey.

Kerry arrived in Baghdad from Amman, where he had been accompanying President Barack Obama on his tour of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. His visit to Iraq is the first by a U.S. secretary of state since Clinton went in April 2009. During Obama's first term, the Iraq portfolio was largely delegated to Vice President Joe Biden as Obama wound down the war.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-warns-iraq-iran-flights-syria-132200384--politics.html

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Addappt goes public, gives iOS users group contact control and messaging

While Addappt has been teasing painless contact syncing between iOS-using friends and colleagues since its December launch, its invitation-only nature has kept most of us on the sidelines. It may be time to try Addappt now that an update opens the doors to the public. On top of widening the app's audience for its update once, share everywhere approach, the 1.3 release brings group management that easily lets us lump coworkers or social circles together. Messaging is appropriately easier as well -- it's possible to quickly text or email everyone in a given group, including the option to share more photos at once than the five that iOS usually allows. A port to Android isn't yet on the cards, but iPhone and iPod touch owners tired of missing phone number changes can give Addappt a whirl today.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: The Next Web

Source: App Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/23/addappt-goes-public-gives-ios-users-group-contact-management/

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Apple buys indoor location startup WifiSLAM for $20 million

$20 million has bought Apple WifiSLAM, a startup specializing in indoor location mapping. Apple confirmed the sale, but wouldn't discuss specifics or future plans. Jessica E. Lessin of the Wall Street Journal reports:

The two-year-old startup has developed ways for mobile apps to detect a phone user?s location in a building using Wi-Fi signals. It has been offering the technology to application developers for indoor mapping and new types of retail and social networking apps. The company has a handful of employees, and its co-founders include former Google software engineering intern Joseph Huang.

Their website, wifislam.com, is already down. Their YouTube account, which contains several demo videos, remains up, as does their Twitter account, though neither has been updated recently.

Apple has acquired numerous mapping-related companies over the years, including Placebase, Poly9, and C3 technologies, and used them to create features like Flyover in iOS 6 Maps. Presumably Apple will keep updating their new Maps app, both as part of iOS 7 and iOS 8, and hopefully one day de-coupled from the main firmware distribution as well. What, if any, role WifiSLAM technology will play in that future remains unknown.

I'd settle for it being able to help me get out of CES alive. You?

Source: Wall Street Journal

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/f2Vn8TgbwDM/story01.htm

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Dress for success without breaking the bank

Keeping up with the dress code at your new workplace doesn't have to mean shelling out big bucks on a new wardrobe. Mix and match pieces and a little help from your co-workers is a good place to start. ?

By Trent Hamm,?Guest blogger / March 23, 2013

Sales consultant James Field adjusts the tie display at bespoke Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard in central London last month. Hamm recommends asking co-workers for tips on building a new, work-appropriate wardrobe on a budget.

Andrew Winning/Reuters/File

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The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds ? we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.

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At my new job, everyone dresses incredibly well. Everyone is wearing expensive ? or at least expensive-looking ? suits and other businesswear. My wardrobe is simply not up to snuff. Catching my wardrobe up to the level of everyone else is going to be really expensive. Do you have any suggestions??

First of all, I view it as a completely reasonable thing to dress at an appropriate level in the workplace. If your workplace has a dress code, whether informal or formal, then you should measure up to that dress code.

That being said, I don?t think it?s realistic nor expected that you immediately have a $10,000 wardrobe if you?re new to the environment. There may be a subtle expectation that you eventually reach that level, but I don?t think you need to go out tomorrow and get thousands of dollars in debt to play catch-up.

If I were in your shoes, I?d actually use this situation as an opportunity. You are in a great position, being new in the workplace, to establish some relationships in the office, and your clothing situation is a great opportunity to do so.

Look around your office and identify a few people that you consider to be very sensible and potentially compatible with your personality. If you pay attention, you?ll be able to find people who are more sensible than others. What people use mass transit for their commute? What people drive more sensible cars? What people are solid and reliable in the workplace and are liked by everyone? Look for those people.

Then, approach those people individually and privately and ask how they put their wardrobe together. Where did they shop? How do they seem so well put-together? Don?t be afraid to add some compliments when you ask, as everyone likes to be flattered.

Be honest about your financial situation. Make it clear that you?re new and that you don?t have a lot of accumulated money.

I have approached people ? and been approached by people ? in situations very much like this one. Each time, it has become the source for a good relationship. Most of the time, people like to help others, and they particularly feel flattered if you?re coming to them specifically for advice. That?s a great first step for a good workplace relationship and/or friendship.

Another point of advice: buy modular clothing, especially at first. Buy clothes that can be easily mixed and matched to give the appearance of different outfits so that you?re not having to buy as many articles of clothing at once.

I?ll openly confess that I find this pretty easy to do for my own dressy clothing, but I am rather unfamiliar with the specific needs of professional clothing for women. My only experience in that department is through Sarah?s clothing, and she seems to indicate that mixing and matching works reasonably well for her, too.

For myself, anyway, I have a suit and several pairs of dress pants, but I have several shirts and a number of ties. Most of the permutations of shirt, pants/suit, and tie work well together, so it can appear like I have a lot of dress clothes when I actually have very little. Since there are clearly some combinations that don?t work well, I don?t wear a combination unless both Sarah and I think it looks good.

The result of this is that I don?t have to invest in lots of different clothes to make a variety of nice clothing work. I just have to maintain compatible clothes and replace the individual pieces as needed (which isn?t too often ? I rarely have to ?dress up? for professional or personal purposes).

If you use that clothes-buying strategy along with the tactics and tips suggested by your new workplace acquaintances, you?ll not only build a solid wardrobe at a very passable cost, but you?ll also build a much stronger professional network.

The post Dressed for Success appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on www.thesimpledollar.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/8Ftcsbd9UDQ/Dress-for-success-without-breaking-the-bank

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Man killed in Texas called suspect in Colo slaying

This undated photo released by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows paroled inmate Evan Spencer Ebel. Ebel, 28, is the man who led Texas authorities on a 100 mph car chase that ended in a shootout Thursday, March 21, 2013, and may be linked to the slaying of Colorado's state prison chief. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections)

This undated photo released by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows paroled inmate Evan Spencer Ebel. Ebel, 28, is the man who led Texas authorities on a 100 mph car chase that ended in a shootout Thursday, March 21, 2013, and may be linked to the slaying of Colorado's state prison chief. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections)

Emergency personnel are on the scene of a crash and shootout with police involving the driver of a black Cadillac with Colorado plates in Decatur, Texas, Thursday, March 21, 2013. The driver led police on a gunfire-filled chase through rural Montague County, crashed his car into a truck in Decatur, opened fire on authorities and was shot, officials said. Texas authorities are checking whether the Cadillac is the same car spotted near the home of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements, who was shot and killed when he answered the door Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Wise County Messenger, Joe Duty) MANDATORY CREDIT, MAGS OUT

Emergency personnel are on the scene of a crash and shootout with police involving the driver of a black Cadillac with Colorado plates in Decatur, Texas, Thursday, March 21, 2013. The driver led police on a gunfire-filled chase through rural Montague County, crashed his car into a truck in Decatur, opened fire on authorities and was shot, officials said. Texas authorities are checking whether the Cadillac is the same car spotted near the home of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements, who was shot and killed when he answered the door Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Wise County Messenger, Jimmy Alford) MANDATORY CREDIT, MAGS OUT

Emergency personnel carry the driver of a black Cadillac with Colorado plates who was involved in a high speed chase and shootout with police in Decatur, Texas, Thursday, March 21, 2013. The driver led police on a gunfire-filled chase through rural Montague County, crashed his car into a truck in Decatur, opened fire on authorities and was shot, officials said. Texas authorities are checking whether the Cadillac is the same car spotted near the home of Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements, who was shot and killed when he answered the door Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Wise County Messenger, Jimmy Alford) MANDATORY CREDIT, MAGS OUT

This undated image provided by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows its director, Tom Clements. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Kramer says Clements was shot to death around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, March 19, 2013 when he answered his front door in Monument, Colo., north of Colorado Springs. Police are searching for the shooter. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections)

DENVER (AP) ? Colorado investigators are saying for the first time that a former prison inmate who was killed in a gunfight with Texas authorities is a suspect in the death of Colorado's state prison system chief.

The evidence gathered in Texas after the death of Evan Spencer Ebel provides a "strong, strong lead" in the fatal shooting of Colorado Department of Corrections director Tom Clements, who was killed at his front door, El Paso County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said Saturday.

Kramer also confirmed Ebel had been a member of the 211s, a white supremacist prison gang in Colorado. It was not known if Ebel knew who Clements was and that he was the state's top prison official, Kramer said.

A darkly ironic connection emerged among Ebel, Clements at Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper when the governor confirmed Friday he was a longtime friend of Ebel's father, attorney Jack Ebel.

Jack Ebel had testified before Colorado lawmakers two years ago that solitary confinement in a Colorado prison was destroying his son's psyche.

When Hickenlooper interviewed Clements for the top prison job in Colorado, he mentioned the case as an example of why the prison system needed reform, but did not mention Ebel by name. Later, Clements eased the use of solitary confinement in Colorado and tried to make it easier for people held there to re-enter society.

Hickenlooper's spokesman said Clements did not know specifically who Ebel was.

Clements was shot Tuesday night when he answered the door of his home in a wooded, rural area north of Colorado Springs.

Kramer said investigators were trying to determine whether the 211 gang was involved in Clements' death.

Denver police say Ebel is also a suspect in the March 17 slaying of pizza delivery man Nathan Leon. Texas authorities found a Domino's pizza delivery box and a jacket or shirt from the pizza chain in the trunk of the car Ebel was driving.

Authorities previously said that car was similar to one seen not far from Clements' home the night he was killed, and bullets Ebel fired at Texas police were the same caliber and brand as the bullet or bullets that killed Clements. But until Saturday they had stopped short of saying Ebel was a suspect.

Kramer stressed that investigators have not yet confirmed a link between Ebel and Clements' death. Tests were under way to determine if the weapon used to kill Clements was the same one recovered from Ebel in Texas.

Results could be available Monday, Kramer said.

Ebel, who was paroled from a Colorado prison in January, was fatally shot by authorities in Texas Thursday after a pursuit reaching 100 mph.

There was no indication that Hickenlooper's relationship with the Ebels played a role in the shooting. Hickenlooper said he did not having any role in Evan Ebel's parole.

State prisons spokeswoman Alison Morgan said Evan Ebel was paroled Jan. 28 as part of a mandatory process after serving his full prison term. He had most recently been sentenced to four years for punching a prison guard in 2008, according to state records.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi, P. Solomon Banda, Nicholas Riccardi, Colleen Slevin, Catherine Tsai and Kristen Wyatt in Denver and Angela K. Brown in Decatur, Texas.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-23-US-Corrections-Director-Killed/id-57f80ac426e543faa82bdf74eb72f3af

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Realtor reviews in Tucson - Zillow Real Estate Advice

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Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Realtor-reviews-in-Tucson/484385/

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