What Good Readers Do ?

1.       Pre-read material. Skim, look at headings, pictures, and read questions at end of chapter.

2.       Read a variety of materials.

3.       Reading is thinking: Analyze, question, summarize, rephrase, understand, and clarify material.

4.       Be active while you’re reading: Take notes, highlight material, and circle words you don’t know.

5.       Connect with the story. Be involved. Create connections from the text to yourself, text to other text, and text to the world.

6.       Visualize the material. See images in your head.

7.       Have the right tools including eye glasses, lighting, and a quiet place to read.

8.       Be able to figure out the main points, moral, and what is important.

9.       Work on strategies for text you don’t know: Think, sound out words, break up a long word into smaller pieces, get meaning for unfamiliar words by the surrounding context, look up unfamiliar words, skip an unknown word, notice patterns in text organization, speed up or slow down, reread, and retell or reflect in writing what you’ve read.

10.  Continue the story or article. Ask what might happen next. For a non-fiction article, think about the implications of what you read and continue reading about the subject.

11.  Have a purpose for reading.

12.  Share information, discuss, and derive meaning with others.

13.  Read at different speeds depending on your purpose for reading and the material.

14.  Enjoy reading. Find what you like to read.

15.  Have been read to. Read to others, especially those younger.

16.  Select appropriate reading.

Sunset of 1st Jan 2010

Sunset of 1st Jan 2010 in London. 

I wonder why when you say goodbye 
beautiful colours paint the sky. 
Shades of orange, yellow and pink too 
all come out because of you. 
And although I hate to see you go, 
I really do enjoy the show. 
I've seen you leave so many times 
and still it's a favourite sight of mine. 
There'll be no sadness, be no sorrow 
because my sun, you'll come out tomorrow. 
I won't feel hurt, I'll feel no pain 
because on your way down, your colours will reign. 

Failure-12 Secrets

1. Dither, dither, dither; plan, plan, plan.

Instead: Fail fast. Fire, aim, repeat.

2. Postpone hard decisions until you have to make hard trade-offs.

Instead: Make decisions earlier to create options and build flexibility.

3. Copy tactics.

Instead: Create strategies.

4. “Fight the good fight.”

Instead: Pick the right battles, at the right time, with the right people. *

5. Solve your problems.

Instead: Solve their problems.

6. Focus on the long-term.

Instead: Focus on the short-term.

7.“We can build a successful business by capturing just X% of the market.”

Instead: Sell to one customer. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

8. “I know more than anyone else.”

Instead: If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re the fool.

9.Hire resumes.

Instead: Hire people: curiosity, passion, interpersonal skills and drive.

10.Reward activity.

Instead: Reward achievements, both failures and successes.

11.Meet to discuss.

Instead: Meet to decide.

12.Treat these secrets as absolutes.

Instead: Know all the rules completely so you can break them perfectly.

Etiquette Tips For Blackberry Users

The handheld Blackberry has become a phenomenon with tech-savvy business people everywhere. They allow people to monitor their emails or talk as if on a cellphone, adding a new dimension of convenience to telecommunications. Some people find these devices so addictive that they are referred to as Crackberries. The problem is, your obsession for communicating with remote people

1. Turn the Buzzer On

The first rule of etiquette is to leave your machine in buzz mode when you are in public. You might find your new ringtone ultra cool, but most of the people around you won’t. More than likely, they will think you are trying to show off you gadget. Nobody likes a showoff.

Blackberries were a status symbol when they first came out, because so few had them and they were comparatively expensive. As they have flooded the marketplace, you are just one of the crowd. Behaving as if you possess a rare status symbol makes you look lame.

2. Keep It In Your Pants

Masturberry is a term used for those who fiddle around with their Blackberries in a meeting. No one listens to the presentations, instead choosing to answer emails and text messages while pretending to pay attention.

This is noticeable. Not only is it rude, but it’s hardly going to impress the supervisor giving the presentation. Believe me; if you sit for 45 minutes looking down at your Blackberry, it’s going to be noticed.

3. Ditch the Headset

Nothing is ruder than answering a call when you are having a face-to-face conversation. I’ve had someone talking to me and then, without warning, suddenly start talking to someone on their headset. I walked away from that conversation and never looked back.

Remember this when you are using your Blackberry. It isn’t how cool it looks; it’s that you aren’t paying attention to your company. Why would you think that is impressive?

People want to send the message they are busy and have important calls and messages coming in to them. But you will seldom convince anyone that’s the case. Most of the time, the headset comes off as self-important and thoughtless. Besides, you look like a fool with a little earpiece sticking off the side of your head.

If you decide to stick with the headset, make sure to use blue tooth technology. This makes it less noticeable. Having wires run the length of your body is just geeky looking.

4. Give It a Rest

There are certain social situations where a telecommunications device is altogether inappropriate. When you visit a hospital, attend a mosque/church or funeral, work out at a gym or walk a museum, you should not be fiddling around with your Blackberry. Unless you are a doctor on call, no one is going to believe your message is so important that it can’t wait. They will think you are big-timing them.

Dinner dates are another setting you shouldn’t use the device. If you are out with friends, they should have your undivided attention. This goes doubly for a date. I suppose there might be some people out there who are impressed by a guy so important that he must answer text messages on a first date, but most self-respecting women will find the lack of consideration a turnoff. Good impressions are about eye contact and making a connection, not about showing off your latest toy.

5. Screen Your Emails

Have a filter for your emails. This way, every spam and reply won’t cause your Pearl to go off. Set it where only emergency emails from your boss get through. Forward the rest to a secondary email box at your home or office computer.

6. Keep It Between The Lines

This is the same as for cellphones. When you are in the car, keep your use of telecommunications devices to a bare minimum. This is dangerous for you and other drivers. If you decide its time to catch up on all these messages you’ve missed while out on dates, then make sure to employ the headset now, by all means. Driving while talking into a headset is still distracting, but it leaves both your hands free.

A funny interview in Berlin.

Do More Stuff In Less Time #time #domore #Karachi

Do More Stuff In Less Time

If you are like most people in business, you are looking to do more, faster. This is evident from even a quick search on Amazon.com for books about productivity. One search will net you over 40,000 hits! That subject is the Holy Grail for the majority of us. We all seem to have the same goal – make a boatload of money in the least amount of time.

Productivity Killers

As you may have suspected, ironically, productivity is decreasing. People are working longer and longer hours, yet we seem to be getting less done. The biggest killer of productivity seems to be the Internet. How ironic, since it is also the most amazing productivity platform ever, allowing us to talk, work, learn, and find virtually anything, at any time.

The problem is that, along with unlimited access to the world, come unlimited ways to waste time by surfing, e-mailing, chatting, and watching. Just one look at the statistics and it is clear that we are wasting a lot of time online during our workday. We log on for just a few seconds…but those ‘few seconds’ turn into a wandering path as we check out a multitude of other things.

Case in point – Nielson reports that 65 percent of all streaming content is watched during the work week, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Furthermore, YouTube reports that 2 billion videos are watched each day on their site alone. That’s a lot of lost productivity, especially considering that most watched videos don’t have much if anything to do with business.

Taming the Snowball Effect

But here is the real killer when it comes to continuously diverting your attention with online pursuits. When you are finally ready to get back to work, you usually find that you’ve forgotten where you left off and need to start all over again. And, with that, you might as well surf again…and so you are off to the races!

So, here is what all the productivity books tell you to do: turn off the Internet and turn off your e-mail. I mean, duh, it is so simple! No Internet, no distractions, work gets done.

But there is the problem with that. You actually need the Internet to get work done! So, ultimately, these well-intended directions don’t actually work. Instead, there is a better way to be more productive, and it only requires a piece of paper, a pen and a highlighter.

Here is what you will need to do:

• Make two columns on your sheet of paper: a small column to the left, labeled TYPE, and a second, wide column, labeled TASK. You will notice that there is no column for “DUE DATE,” because that is not necessarily reflective of the most important stuff.  Due dates in fact make us rush to the urgent, but not necessarily the important.
• In the task column, write down all the tasks you need to accomplish. And while you are working, if the thought of a new task comes to mind, write it down in the TASK list, right then and there. This is important, because if you try to simply remember the new task, you will either forget it or be distracted from the task at hand by trying to remember what else you need to do.
• Next, once all your tasks are written out, go down the TYPE column and put a dollar sign ($) next to the tasks that will bring you revenue within the next 30 days.
• Finally, go back through the list and put a smiley face next to the items that serve an existing client.
  

When you look over your columns, you will notice that most of your tasks don’t actually generate revenue or address a client. Those unmarked tasks are the items that you can tackle later. Now go through your list and, first, do those items that have both a dollar sign and a smiley face together. This is for a client who is bringing in revenue for you. Do that one now!

After that, do all the ones that have smiley faces, followed up by all the ones that have dollar signs. Once you are done with that, you are ready to go on to the other tasks. But here is the key – when you start a new task, use your highlighter to mark it. This way, when you get distracted by the phone or an e-mail, you can go right back to your sheet, see what is highlighted, and get it done. Once you complete a task, put a line through it. It is really gratifying to see items crossed of the list.

Getting It Done

I know it is hard to resist the urge to log online and check your e-mail every five minutes, or watch the new Justin Bieber video (hey, with almost 400 million views, someone is watching it!), but with this new little system you can slip a little, since you will be right back on track instantly – making money and helping clients.

By Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Pukh Theory – First Look

Pukh Theory – First Look

Title: Pukh Theory    | Authors: Farhad Karamally & Faraz Khan  |  www.pukhtheory.com  

Pukh theory is Pakistan's first business parable that explores an indigenous and unique solution to a global challenge. A challenge that you as a leader of your organization face on daily bases - SUCCESSION PLANNING. It is a Pakistani contribution to global business practices.

The First Look – Outside:

Packed with vibrant and rich packaging, explains its title right away with illustration of a donkey cart.  A glazed paper and a neat design will grab your attention as soon as you hold it.

On the back cover you will find 5 nicely structured comments from the people inspired by this epic publication and the publisher logo in the bottom-left.

“Just dressed like a pretty and friendly mentor, no signs of conventional corporate images. “ 

-Mashhood Khan.

The First Look – Inside:

Started with expected format of a book and took a lead right away by presenting page wide heading of IMPRESSIONS.  Fully loaded with enthusiastic and cheerful expressions of people who have shared  excitements after reading the book.

With few words of acknowledgements, dedication, note and gratitude, the journey begins from Chapter 1.

Just a plain and focused approach towards reading a book, adequate font size, friendly font style and illustrated Pukh (Donkey) will drive reader into the ballroom of Pukh Theory, where you will meet Danial Khan as a conscious and successful business leader.

 

  

 "You can cover a great deal of country in books" -Andrew Lang

 Available at Tohfaymall.com or visit PukhTheory.com

Please leave your comments below !

Can you start over today ?

Famous Failures, LIFE = RISK

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

The Best Way to Use the Last Five Minutes of Your Day.

Julie Anko*, the head of a division of a retail company I work with, was at risk of getting fired. Here's the crazy thing: she was a top performer. She had done more for the brand in the past year than any of her predecessors had in five years.

The problem was that she was a bear to work with. She worked harder than seemed humanly possible and expected the same of others, often losing her temper when they wouldn't put in the same herculean effort she did. She was also competitive and territorial; she wanted the final say on all decisions remotely related to her brand even when her peers technically had the authority to make a decision. She wasn't good at listening to others or empowering them or helping them feel good about themselves or the team. And, though she was working all hours, things were falling through the cracks.

But none of that was the problem for which she was at risk of being fired. The real problem was that she didn't think she had a problem.

I was asked to work with her, and my first step was to interview everyone with whom she worked in order to understand the situation and share their perspectives with her.
When I did share the feedback, her response surprised me. "I didn't know it was that bad," she said, "but it doesn't surprise me." I asked her why.

"This is the same feedback I received at my previous company," she said, "it's why I left."
We could look at Julie and laugh at her ignorance. At her unwillingness to look at her failures and, as a result, repeat them. But the laugh would be a nervous one. Because many of us — and this includes me — do the same thing.

I'm often amazed at how many times something has to happen to me before I figure it out. I believe that most of us get smarter as we get older. But somehow, despite that, we often make the same mistakes. On the flip side — but no less comforting — we often do many things right and then fail to repeat them.

There's a simple reason for it: we rarely take the time to pause, breathe, and think about what's working and what's not. There's just too much to do and no time to reflect.
I was once asked: if an organization could teach only one thing to its employees, what single thing would have the most impact? My answer was immediate and clear: teach people how to learn. How to look at their past behavior, figure out what worked, and repeat it while admitting honestly what didn't and change it.

If a person can do that well, everything else takes care of itself. That's how people become life-long learners. And it's how companies become learning organizations. It requires confidence, openness, and letting go of defenses. But here's what it doesn't require: much time.

It only takes a few minutes. About five actually. A brief pause at the end of the day to consider what worked and what didn't.

Here's what I propose:

Every day, before leaving the office, save a few minutes to think about what just happened. Look at your calendar and compare what actually happened — the meetings you attended, the work you got done, the conversations you had, the people with whom you interacted, even the breaks you took — with your plan for what you wanted to have happen. Then ask yourself three sets of questions:

How did the day go? What success did I experience? What challenges did I endure?

What did I learn today? About myself? About others? What do I plan to do — differently or the same — tomorrow?

Who did I interact with? Anyone I need to update? Thank? Ask a question? Share feedback?


This last set of questions is invaluable in terms of maintaining and growing relationships. It takes just a few short minutes to shoot off an email — or three — to share your appreciation for a kindness someone extended, to ask someone a question, or to keep someone in the loop on a project.

If we don't pause to think about it, we are apt to overlook these kinds of communications. And we often do. But in a world where we depend on others to achieve anything in life, they are essential.

After several long conversations, Julie came to appreciate the efficiency of slowing down enough to see the others around her. She saw that she was working so hard and moving so fast, that even if she was delivering quality results, she was working against herself, putting her job at risk, and making things harder for everyone.

So, over time and with great discipline, she began to change. And, slowly, people began to notice. I knew things were going to be OK when I left her a message expecting a call back in several weeks, if at all, but she called me back that evening.

"Hi Peter," she said, "I just wanted to let you know I got your call and I appreciate you reaching out to me. I'm heading out with the team for some drinks. I'll try you again in a few days."

And, sure enough, she did.
*Names and some details changed.

PS: I got this article via email, seems like worth sharing. You can also share it. :-)

The New Entrepreneur: Research Review

Stop suffering, Start Changing !

The New Entrepreneur: Research Review

View more presentations from Taly Weiss.

Why I decided to work at a startup after graduating | VentureBeat

Why I decided to work at a startup after graduating | VentureBeat

the-presentation-secrets-of-steve-jobs-

Killer Presentation Skills

Organizational Behavior Lecture 1

BAA says December's cold weather cost it £24m

 

 

The heavy snow in December cost UK airports operator BAA £24m, the company has said.

Many thousands of air passengers were affected in December as Heathrow and other airports closed temporarily.

BAA said it had handled 7.2 million passengers at its six UK airports in December, down 10.9% from a year ago.

Earlier this week, Virgin Atlantic said it was withholding the fees it pays to BAA because of its "slow reaction" to the heavy snow.

Sloan data yields biggest colour #night-sky #image ever #galaxy #camera

Sloan data yields biggest colour night-sky image ever

 

  

Successive zooming in on the image of the Southern Galactic Cap (lower left) shows the Messier 33 galaxy (upper left; a further magnification at centre), and even the NGC 604 "stellar nursery"

Astronomers have released the largest-ever colour image of the whole sky, stitched from seven million images, each made of 125 million pixels.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey's latest effort tops its own record, published publicly for professional astronomers and "citizen scientists" alike.

Data from Sloan have helped to identify hundreds of millions of cosmic objects.

The release was announced at the 217th annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, US.

New #James #Bond film starring Daniel Craig approved #mgm #hollywood

New James Bond film starring Daniel Craig approved

 

 

 

A new James Bond film has been given the go-ahead and is due to be released on 9 November 2012, film studio MGM and EON Productions have announced.

Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and MGM said the 23rd Bond would go into production in late 2011.

The latest 007 adventure, starring Daniel Craig for the third time, will be directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes.

The franchise had been on hold amid financial troubles, with MGM filing for bankruptcy protection last November.

A rescue deal and restructuring plan put US firm Spyglass Entertainment at the helm of MGM, which had struggled due to several box office flops and a DVD sales slump.

Work on the 23rd film was suspended in April 2010 because of uncertainty over the company's future.

James Bond is one of the longest running franchises in film history.

Its return marks a four-year gap since Bond's last outing in 2008's Quantum of Solace.

Daniel Craig - who made his Bond debut in Casino Royale in 2006 - is the sixth actor to play the British secret agent on the big screen, after Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

Craig's debut, in Casino Royale, was the most successful instalment in the franchise's 48-year history, taking $594m (£385m) at the global box office.

The latest Bond screenplay has been written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan.

 

Australia floods: Fears worsen for Brisbane

 

 

 Up to 20,000 homes are now at risk in Brisbane, the Queensland state premier has said, as deadly floodwaters surge towards Australia's third-largest city.

Central Brisbane is a ghost town, with electricity cut and thousands urged to either evacuate or stay at home.
West of Brisbane, the city of Ipswich is being swamped by flood waters in a situation described as "total chaos".
The death toll from the flash floods in Queensland is 12 so far, with many others reported missing.
State Premier Anna Bligh told Australian television that the number of missing west of Brisbane in the Lockyer Valley had risen.
"The police now are searching for more than 90 people," she said. "These are people who their families can no longer contact or find."
She added: "The one good news is the rain has cleared, so we've now got a number of search and rescue teams all ready to deploy into the valley to really start what might be a very gruesome search this morning for bodies and our police and emergency workers there are going to have a very tough day.
"I think we will all be shocked by what they will find."
'Serious event' The central business district in Brisbane was almost totally deserted on Wednesday, hit by a power cut that was intended to prevent generators becoming a fire risk if flooded.

 

An inundated sports ground in the severely-hit Ipswich

Shops put up signs that they would not open.
The Brisbane Courier Mail said 50 of the city's suburbs would be hit by flooding during the day, and it quoted Mayor Campbell Newman as saying some areas would be completely submerged.
He said that Thursday would "be devastating for the residents and businesses affected".
The Brisbane river had burst its banks at Yeerongpilly and Indooroopilly, flooding streets. The paper quoted city council flood modelling as predicting that 40,000 properties would be affected.
More than 6,500 Brisbane residents are expected to take refuge in three evacuation centres.
Local media said the peak for Brisbane could be in the early hours of Thursday and the level would remain until Saturday. It is predicted to be higher than the 5.45m reached in the devastating 1974 floods.

Continue reading the main story

Brisbane's Major Floods

• 1841 - 8.4m
• 1844 - 7m
• 1864 - 3.8m
• 1887 - 3.8m
• 1889 - 3.8m
• 1890 - 5.3m
• 1893 - 8.3m
• 1907 - 3.5m
• 1974 - 5.45m

Ms Bligh said: "I want to reassure particularly the people of Ipswich and Brisbane that we have every available resource deployed to assist them over the next couple of days in what we expect to be a very serious event."

Brisbane is facing a combined surge of water from the flooded Lockyer Valley and the Wivenhoe Dam, which is so full it has been forced into controlled releases.
High, or king, tides on Thursday will exacerbate the problem.
Sandbags have been given out to residents in the city of two million people.
More rain The Queensland Times said 3,000 homes were under water and 1,100 people have gone to evacuation centres in the city of Ipswich.
It said the Bremer river in the city was now expected to rise to around 20.5m on Wednesday afternoon, higher than the 1974 peak.
The paper quoted councillor Paul Tully as saying the water was rising by one metre an hour. It was "total chaos", he said. Train services have been suspended to the city.

Toowoomba resident Jenny Mullholland on the flood aftermath

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said he expected flood levels to drop within the next 36 hours, allowing the clean-up to begin after.
Queensland's flooding has caused billions of dollars worth of damage and affected 200,000 people.
The most deadly floods so far hit Toowoomba, just west of Brisbane, on Monday.
Toowoomba mayor Peter Taylor told BBC Radio 4: "We're working 24 hours a day responding on a emergency number for people who need any assistance in terms of evacuation."
The forecast is for more rain to come for some areas, and there are reports of flooding in neighbouring New South Wales, with the Clarence River expected to peak at 7m.

 

Batsmen, Australians cash in during ground-breaking auction #ipl

Batsmen, Australians cash in during ground-breaking auction

 

 

 

At the end of the largest two-day sports 'auction' in the world, the Indian Premier League took the first clear, decisive step towards its fourth season. Ending months of controversy around the League's own financial deals and its teams' ownership holdings, the ten franchises finally shook hands with the 139 cricketers who will form the core of the high-profile domestic Twenty20 event that begins in India on April 8.

Auction weekend in Bangalore oscillated wildly between extremes of spending, lavish as well as careful, and general sloppiness around its conclusion. What began with the first of four $2m signings on Saturday morning ended with Mohammed Kaif's name finally pencilled into the IPL roster, after being met with silence across the floor not once, but twice on Sunday. Almost like a sudden afterthought, Kaif was hauled onto the IPL4 gravy train, the last cricketer aboard, concluding the 353-man auction used to reshuffle the League's overall player pool.

#US unemployment rate drops in December #inflation

US unemployment rate drops in December

 

 

 "Our mission has to be to accelerate hiring, and accelerate growth" says Barack Obama

The US unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% in December from 9.8% in November, the biggest one-month drop since April 1998, official figures show.

Some 103,000 jobs were created last month, the Labor Department said, although this was fewer than the 145,000 to 175,000 forecast.

The lower rate came not only because more people found jobs, but also because 260,000 had given up looking.

If people stop searching for work, they are no longer counted as unemployed.

Stubbornly high unemployment has hindered the US economic recovery.

'Invest now'

Flash floods hit Toowoomba in Queensland, Australia

 

 

 

Flash floods have hit Queensland, killing one person with several more missing, as heavy rains continue to pound the Australian state.

A massive deluge of water overwhelmed Toowoomba, a city west of the state capital Brisbane, without warning.
A rescue operation is under way to reach those trapped in cars and on the roofs of buildings, officials say.
Eleven people have died since the tropical storms began in November, the worst flooding in the state in decades.

Device 'cancels out the sound of the dentist's drill'

 

 

An invention which cancels out the noise of a dentist's drill could help people overcome their fear of a check-up, researchers say.

For many, the sound of the drill is a big cause of anxiety when it comes to visiting the dentist.
This new device allows patients to listen to music on an MP3 player, while the sound of the drill is blanked out.
Patients are, though, still able to hear the dentist's voice because not all sounds are filtered out.

Mumtaz Qadri admits killing Governor Salman Taseer

 

 

The bodyguard accused of shooting Pakistani governor Salman Taseer has confessed in court to the killing.

Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri told the Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi that he had acted alone in the attack.

He was whisked into court a day earlier than scheduled to prevent supporters showing up, correspondents say.

It comes a day after 50,000 protesters marched in Karachi against proposed amendments - backed by the slain Punjab governor - to the blasphemy law.

 

Iran rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh 'gets 11 years jail'

 

 

 

Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to 11 years in jail, her husband has said.

She has also been banned for 20 years from working as a lawyer and from leaving the country.

She was arrested in September, accused of acting against national security.

Rihanna makes history in UK chart

 

 

 

Rihanna has set a new record as the first female solo artist in UK chart history to achieve number one singles in five consecutive years.

The Official Charts Company announced her record after What's My Name? rose from number two to the top spot.

The last solo artist to achieve the feat was Elvis Presley, who had number ones in each year from 1957 to 1963.

Rihanna's album Loud also holds on to its number one slot, giving her the second UK chart double of her career.

TOP FIVE SINGLES

• 1 What's My Name - Rihanna ft Drake
• 2 When We Collide - Matt Cardle
• 3 The Time (Dirty Bit) - Black Eyed Peas
• 4 Lights On - Katy B featuring Ms Dynamite
• 5 Do It Like A Dude - Jessie J

In 2007, her album Good Girl Gone Bad and single Umbrella topped both charts simultaneously.

Loud has now sold nearly 900,000 copies since its release in November last year.

As well as her number one, Rihanna, who is 22 and from Barbados, also appears on two other songs in the top 10 - Only Girl (In The World) and Who's That Chick.

Only Girl (In The World) was a number one last year and followed other number ones for Run This Town (2009), Take A Bow (2008) and Umbrella (2007).

Other albums which have re-entered the top 10 are Plan B's The Defamation of Strickland Banks, Rumer's Seasons Of My Soul and Cee Lo Green's The Lady Killer which climbs to its highest chart position yet at number four.

In the singles chart, the BBC's Sound Of 2011 winner, Jessie J, climbs to number five from last week's 18 with Do It Like A Dude.

Detroit #auto show hails recovery. #ford #cars #benz #bmw

Detroit auto show hails recovery

 

 

 

Up to 40 global motor firsts will be unveiled this week as the most important auto show in the US gets under way in Detroit.

Many of them will feature electric motoring solutions, at times combined with internal combustion engines.
Conventional 4x4 vehicles and US "muscle cars" will also be on show, alongside many smaller cars.
To Detroit's carmakers - General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler - the show marks a new future after a long crisis.
"This is an industry that's on the mend," according to Sergio Marchione, chief executive of Chrysler and its alliance partner Fiat.
"I'm really positive about what 2011 will bring."
In 2010, sales rose 11% in the US to about 11.6 million vehicles and this year sales are expected to come in at about 13 million vehicles, according to carmakers herein Detroit
"We have a solid foundation to deliver more sales and improved results in 2011," said Ford sales and marketing executive Ken Czubay.
"The seeds of growth have already taken hold."
Big trucks and electric cars Last year saw a revival in demand for so-called "light trucks", or 4x4 vehicles, with sales rising 18% - well ahead of a 5% rise in demand for cars.
So Detroit's "Big Three" are hoping their new sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks will hit home with drivers.
GM is unveiling a large pickup concept, the GMC Sierra, Chrysler will display its new Jeep Compass, a luxurious 4x4, while Ford will show a 4x4 named Escape.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

No question electric vehicle programs are moving forward”

End Quote Erich Merkle Industry analyst

But the companies are also heading in new directions that they say point the way to a future where electric or fuel-efficient low-emission cars will become ever more popular.

GM has taken a lead in the US with its Volt, an electric car with a petrol powered range extender, while Ford will show off its electric Focus that will be produced near Detroit.
"As we continue to improve the electrical grids around the world... having a complete battery-powered vehicle is going to be a very important part of our strategy," said Ford Motor's chief executive, Alan Mulally.
Electric subsidies Electric car production in the US is attracting billions of dollars in subsidies, including tax breaks for customers, and the carmakers are more than happy to go along with the government's wishes, according to analysts.

 

  GM's Dan Akerson: Stated goal of not fighting change

"No question electric vehicle programs are moving forward," said industry analyst Erich Merkle.
Many non-US carmakers, in particular Germany's three leading luxury car companies Audi, BMW and Mercedes, will show off their latest diesel-powered cars, which they insist offer very fuel efficient alternatives.
After years of work to convince US drivers to switch from cars with petrol engines, they now expect diesel sales to take off.
Petrol-electric hybrids are also expected to be popular, according to the Japanese carmaker, Toyota, which is adding new models under its popular Prius banner.
Italian carmaker Fiat, meanwhile, believes light, frugal cars offer yet another way forward as it enters the US market with its small 500 model.
In recent years, the US carmakers have been slow to come up with such solutions, but they are prepared to go to great lengths to reduce overall carbon dioxide emissions and cut fuel consumption, according to GM's chief executive, Dan Akerson.
"We have a stated goal of not fighting change, but of embracing it and trying to achieve it as best we can," he said.

 

Virgin Atlantic withholds BAA fees over snow row

 

 

 

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic is withholding the fees it pays airport operator BAA because of its "slow reaction" to last month's heavy snow.

The airline says it will not pay any airport fees before the end of BAA's full inquiry, due at the end of March.
Hundreds of thousands of air passengers were disrupted in December as Heathrow and other airports temporarily closed, costing the industry million of pounds.
BAA says the conditions at Heathrow provided no basis to withhold charges.
Virgin - one of BAA's biggest customers - and other airlines have been critical of the length of time it took to clear planes for take-off following the disruption.
Bonus forgone BAA's new non-executive director, Sir David Begg, launched an inquiry just before Christmas into "what went wrong" at Heathrow where flights were grounded for days.
A panel of experts from different airports and airlines will judge BAA's "planning, execution and recovery".
Heathrow Airport's boss Colin Matthews announced in December that he was to forgo his bonus as he focussed on rebuilding confidence in the airport.
At the time, Prime Minister David Cameron said it was understandable there was extensive disruption given the amount of snow that had fallen.
But he added he was frustrated on behalf of all those affected that it was "taking so long for the situation to improve".
BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said the fees Virgin were withholding were said to amount to less than £10m.
British Airways, meanwhile, said the part-closure of UK airports cost it in excess of £50m.
BAA, which theoretically could impound Virgin planes for non-payment of fees, said it would work with airlines during the Begg inquiry.

 

Brazil Finance Minister Mantega warns of trade war

 

 

 Brazil has warned that the world is on course for a trade war because of what it says is currency manipulation by China, the US and others.

Finance minister Guido Mantega said Brazil was preparing moves to prevent further appreciation of its currency.

He said his government would raise the issue at the World Trade Organization and the G20 group of rich and developing countries.

Mr Mantega was speaking in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper.