Venezuela looks for missing plane with Missoni CEO

Essential News from The Associated Press

AAA??Jan. 6, 2013?4:05 PM ET Venezuela looks for missing plane with Missoni CEO AP In this photo taken on Feb. 23, 2010, Vittorio Missoni poses for photographers in Milan, Italy. The search resumed Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 for a small plane that has disappeared off the Venezuelan coast with six people aboard, including Vittorio Missoni, a top executive in Italy's Missoni fashion house, officials said. Vittorio Missoni, 58, is the director general of the iconic brand and the eldest son of the company's founder. Flying with him on Friday's flight from Venezuela's Los Roques resort archipelago to Caracas, was Missoni's wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, two Italian friends of the couple, and a crew of two Venezuelans. (AP Photo/Gian Mattia d'Alberto, Lapresse) In this photo taken on Feb. 23, 2010, Vittorio Missoni poses for photographers in Milan, Italy. The search resumed Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 for a small plane that has disappeared off the Venezuelan coast with six people aboard, including Vittorio Missoni, a top executive in Italy's Missoni fashion house, officials said. Vittorio Missoni, 58, is the director general of the iconic brand and the eldest son of the company's founder. Flying with him on Friday's flight from Venezuela's Los Roques resort archipelago to Caracas, was Missoni's wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, two Italian friends of the couple, and a crew of two Venezuelans. (AP Photo/Gian Mattia d'Alberto, Lapresse) In this undated photo provided by Venezuela's Ministry of the Interior and Justice Press Office, a plane that went missing sits on the tarmac of the airport in Los Roques, Venezuela. Venezuela's Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said the plane was declared missing hours after taking off Friday, Jan. 5, 2013 from Los Roques, a string of islands, cays and islets that is popular for scuba diving, white beaches and coral reefs. He said the plane was expected at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas but didn't arrive and that the four Italian tourists aboard, including Vittorio Missoni, a top executive in Italy's Missoni fashion house and his wife Maurizia Castiglioni, had spent their Christmas and New Year at the resort. The plane had two Venezuelan crew members. (AP Photo/Ministry of the Interior and Justice Press Office) In this photo taken on March 30, 2005 Vittorio Missoni, right, and his wife Maurizia Castiglioni smile in Milan, Italy. The search resumed Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 for a small plane that has disappeared off the Venezuelan coast with six people aboard, including Vittorio Missoni, a top executive in Italy's Missoni fashion house, officials said. Vittorio Missoni, 58, is the director general of the iconic brand and the eldest son of the company's founder. Flying with him on Friday's flight from Venezuela's Los Roques resort archipelago to Caracas, was Missoni's wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, two Italian friends of the couple, and a crew of two Venezuelans. (AP Photo/Livio Valerio, Lapresse) In this photo taken on Nov. 23, 2004 Vittorio Missoni, left, and his father Ottavio smile in Milan, Italy. The search resumed Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 for a small plane that has disappeared off the Venezuelan coast with six people aboard, including Vittorio Missoni, a top executive in Italy's Missoni fashion house, officials said. Vittorio Missoni, 58, is the director general of the iconic brand and the eldest son of the company's founder. Flying with him on Friday's flight from Venezuela's Los Roques resort archipelago to Caracas, was Missoni's wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, two Italian friends of the couple, and a crew of two Venezuelans. (AP Photo/Livio Valerio, Lapresse) CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? The search for a missing plane carrying Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni and five other people has entered its third straight day on Sunday with no signs of the aircraft. Venezuela's government said authorities would not call off the search involving the National Civil Aviation Institute, Coast Guard and Navy until they find the BN-2 Islander plane that disappeared off South American country's coast and all of those who were on board. "All the authorities involved in these tasks are not reducing the intensity of the search until they locate the plane as well as its crew and passengers," the government said in a written statement. It said search teams are using a plane and two helicopters as well as several coast guard vessels and 29 divers. The small, twin-engine plane was reported missing hours after taking off Friday from Los Roques, a string of islands and islets popular among tourists for their white beaches and coral reefs. The plane was carrying the CEO of Italy's iconic Missoni fashion house, his wife, two Italian friends and two Venezuelan crew members. Officials from Venezuela's civil aviation agency have said that authorities declared an alert after the plane didn't make contact with the control tower at the Caracas airport or with the tower in Los Roques. The plane took off at 11:39 a.m. on Friday and had been expected to arrive at Caracas' Simon Bolivar International Airport 42 minutes later, according to officials. Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-06-Venezuela-Italy-Missing%20Plane/id-e3002c94557c42d98e4058f3bbe18b46

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Egypt says to reassure IMF on economy, government plans

DEAR ABBY: I'm the youngest of three children and I'll be graduating from high school in the spring. My parents always seemed happy with each other. They were obviously in love, and they told my brothers and me they would never get divorced. Although they had arguments, they always made up, and it never seemed to be serious.For the last few months, my dad has been acting weird. He spends a lot of time talking to and texting "a friend" on the phone. The problem is, although the friend has a male name ("George") in his contacts, the person has a female voice. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-says-reassure-imf-economy-government-plans-134359332--business.html

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Performing arts center gets off the ground - Nevada Daily Mail

Work on the new performing arts center at Nevada High School continues, with steel girders rising from the base. The arts center is being constructed on location of the parking lot on the north side of the building. In addition to the work on the performing arts center, earthwork is underway for the multi-purpose building, west of Wynn Gymnasium. When complete it will provide a second basketball court on-site to allow a second game to be played without using the Middle School or the Franklin P. Norman City/County Community Center.

Source: http://www.nevadadailymail.com/story/1928381.html

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Police: Man inside Colorado home may have hostages

AURORA, Colo. (AP) ? Authorities are outside a Colorado home where they believe an armed man may be holding as many as four people hostage.

Police Sgt. Cassidee Carlson tells KUSA-TV (http://on9news.tv/VBMTU1 ) a SWAT team was called after gunshots were heard at the Aurora, Colo., home at about 3 a.m. Saturday. She says the man barricaded inside has fired shots, but it's unclear if anyone was injured.

Officers have been negotiating with the man, sometimes using a bullhorn, and several homes in the area have been evacuated.

Carlson says officers believe the man is holding three to four adults hostage.

Aurora police did not immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-man-inside-colorado-home-may-hostages-160151274.html

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INSEAD releases 'Measuring Innovation Capabilities of Nations ...

The report 'Measuring Innovation Capabilities of Nations' gives valuable insights into the progress of the UAE in becoming a knowledge-based economy.

Commenting on the need for economies to pursue innovation to create new socio-economic value, Dr. Sami Mahroum, Director of Innovation and Policy Initiatives at INSEAD Abu Dhabi, said, "Our new report adds a new member to the family of innovation and technology indices produced by INSEAD. It emphasizes our commitment as a school to conduct research that is relevant to the world of business and decision-making."

The INSEAD report was launched at the prestigious Global Competitiveness Summit entitled: Advancing Prosperity through Innovation. Hosted by the Emirates Competitiveness Council (ECC) and the Competitiveness Office of the Department of Economic Development of Abu Dhabi (COAD), the summit attended by senior policy makers, leaders of industry and academia, was the 3rd annual gathering of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) -a global network of leaders from Competitiveness Councils around the world. The research added a valuable dimension to one of the network's goals to find better ways to measure innovation as a way to better understand and accelerate global competitiveness and prosperity.

The report underlines the UAE government's commitment to support innovation. Indeed, Abu Dhabi and Dubai also showcased several innovations at the conference.

H.E. Mohammed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, stated, "As part of the strategic Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 to ensure a sustainable knowledge-based economy, innovation plays a fundamental role. The government is building solid foundations to promote a business enabling environment that fosters innovation and to strengthen our research and development capacity to enable an economy based on human talent that generates higher value added growth and prosperity of the people. Abu Dhabi continues to make major strides in this direction. INSEAD's research is important to us to help us better understand the innovation landscape."

"The UAE's Vision 2021 calls for the UAE to be a nation that is 'united in knowledge', and where growth is driven by knowledge and innovation. We at the Emirates Competitiveness Council constantly strive towards achieving the nation's vision. Our role as a founding member of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils helps us benchmark our innovation performance against other world-leading competitiveness councils. In addition, we work very closely with federal and local governments, private and academic entities to create standards for capturing and measuring innovation," said Najeeb Al Ali, Director of Strategy, Emirates Competitiveness Council.

"Our close collaboration with INSEAD on the Innovation Report is a testament of ECC's commitment to making valuable contributions towards the body of knowledge on competitiveness and innovation globally," he added.

The INSEAD's research established five key capabilities economies should develop to innovate, the abilities to access, anchor, diffuse, create and exploit knowledge.

"Abu Dhabi government has shown great interest in working with INSEAD to develop indicators for innovation performance and capability that are relevant to the economic and industrial structure of the domestic economy," Dr Mahroum commented.

The report findings highlighted the UAE's particular strength in its capability and performance to anchor knowledge it has attracted firmly in its economy, not least thanks to its relatively investment-friendly environment and ease of doing business.

Although industrialized economies, such as Australia, South Korea and the US lead in terms of diffusing knowledge within its economies, the UAE along with Saudi Arabia, lead among the resource-rich countries in this regard. The UAE is especially apt at spreading innovative skills and techniques among its rapidly developing human capital.

In terms of accessing the knowledge, the UAE displayed a significant ability to do so due to its cosmopolitan nature, in regard of both, talent pool and presence of international enterprises, as well as adopting advanced information and communication technologies (ICT). The UAE therefore joins the rank of leaders, alongside Australia, South Korea and the US among the GFCC countries.

However, in comparison to South Korea, although both, the UAE and Australia, have a high capacity to attract knowledge, the INSEAD research exposed that in the case of the latter two countries, performance remains more modest due the high share of natural resource commodities on their international trade books.

INSEAD's research also showed that the other capability indicator the UAE could strengthen would be the creation of knowledge within the country and on commercially exploiting innovations further. In respect of creating and exploiting new knowledge the US still emerges as a clear leader. Australia and South Korea aren't far behind in knowledge creation as such but together with the UAE catching up on exploiting innovation commercially.

Concluding its report, INSEAD, issued a set of general policy guidelines, which could assist countries in determining their weaknesses in terms of innovation indicators and if applied, advance the development of a knowledge - and innovation-rich economy.

The policies firstly call for a strong supportive infrastructure that is capable of accessing the physical, including ICT and financial capital to effectively create, transfer and commercialize knowledge.

The guidelines also advise governments to create vital networks within an economy, such as linking the private sector, training institutions and in-between organisations to produce a positive multiplier effect on government investment in research and development (R&D), as well as on other educational initiatives.

Furthermore, innovation policies should be both, firm-oriented, for example, business support and advice, risk capital, loans and subsidies, as well as innovation system-oriented, for example address network building and brokering through cluster development and other system-enhancing interventions.

The INSEAD research further recognized that policies should be designed to facilitate innovation-based development and pay close attention to country specific conditions that influence the interactions between the various stakeholders in knowledge creation/value-creation activities.

Finally, and probably most importantly, the focus of these policies need to be on the establishment of an environment conducive to new value creation.

Commenting on the policies, Dr Mahroum concluded, "The UAE government understands the nature of the global competition and has been adamant at measuring its performance on every scale."

Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/insead-releases-measuring-innovation-capabilities-nations-324613

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Leaders of Sudan, South Sudan start talks to defuse tension

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met late on Friday to try to defuse hostility that has simmered since the south broke away in 2011 and restart cross-border oil flows to rescue their crumbling economies.

No details emerged as Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir met in the presence of Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who is trying to mediate between the neighbors who came close to war in April.

Both leaders will meet alone for the first time at a summit on Saturday, Sudan's state news agency SUNA said.

North and south already agreed in September to resume oil exports and secure the volatile border but they failed to follow through as mistrust lingered, a legacy of one of Africa's longest civil wars.

Analysts say the confrontation helps shore up the domestic popularity of both governments by diverting attention from their economic problems and widespread corruption.

But the neighboring economies rely heavily on energy revenues and need the oil to flow again from the fields in South Sudan. The southern government in Juba shut down its entire output of 350,000 barrels a year ago after failing to agree on an export fee.

The north charges the south millions of dollars a month to pipe the crude through its territory and export it via a terminal on the Red Sea.

Under the September deals, they agreed to pull back their armies from the border stretching for almost 2,000 km (1,200 miles), much of which is disputed.

Both sides say such a buffer zone is necessary before oil from the landlocked south can flow through Sudanese territory.

On Friday, South Sudan's chief mediator Pagan Amum accused Sudan of dropping bombs across the border four times this week. Sudan's army was not immediately available for comment but routinely denies such claims.

"It is very, definitely, negative. These (air strikes) are having a negative impact on the summit and discussion," Amum told reporters in Addis Ababa.

In turn, Sudan regularly accuses South Sudan of supporting rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) in two border states. Juba denies the accusation and says Sudan is backing militias on its territory.

Diplomats say both sides tend to see such summits as an opportunity to pick away at the other's weaknesses rather than an opportunity to solve their conflicts.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leaders-sudan-south-sudan-start-talks-defuse-tension-215403790.html

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Marketing Your Business To The Social Networks

At one point in time, many businesses viewed the world of social media as a playing ground for kids. Those days are long gone. In today?s society, social media sites provide a valuable tool for marketing and branding any business. With such a level of importance placed on these sites, it is equally important to make your social media marketing plan an effective one. In this article we will give you a few tips for starting out right.

Two-way communication is an important aspect of any relationship between your business and its social media strategists. This will assure you that they will be responsive to your concerns. Look at any social media pages they have to verify they will respect their clients and respond in a positive way.

Set up your account so that all posts that you make are shown on your company LinkedIN page immediately. This allows your post to appear as an update on your LinkedIn page. This is a time saver, and you will get more exposure when you reach out to your LinkedIn friends and a blogging community simultaneously.

It should frequently be emphasized that your media profiles and social networking must be marketed in different languages, but remember to go the extra step by localizing in their areas. Do research on every country or on who your main audience is. Don?t give them all the same cookie cutter media. It?s easier for customers to feel comfortable about making purchases from a company that they feel understands their culture and language.

Social Media

Branding your company on social media is of critical importance. Keep your logo as a avatar or perhaps use it to decorate the background, but make sure it is always visible. Keep the same color choices for all of your various social media accounts. These techniques will give your social media efforts more authenticity so that your followers can trust it is from you. There will be benefits for being consistent and utilizing branding strategies.

Share information about your business on your social media pages. For example, you can post photos of a community event that you participated in. Make sure you record what your workers are doing through pictures and writing. Post anything that will make your company look good in the eyes of customers.

Make sure you aren?t being overly spammy with your messages. Social media is about communication; your posts should help you connect and communicate with customers rather than just informing them of what you?re up to.

Social Media

Imitate what successful people have done with social media and do the best you can to act as if you know what you?re doing so that you can succeed as a social media marketer. Have knowledge about what your competition utilizes for their particular social media marketing tactics, and copy them until you discover what works best for you. Look at their social profiles, check out their specials and discounts, and read their content.

Don?t require too much initial involvement from your consumers. If you immediately ask your visitor for their personal information, you can expect them to turn around and leave. If you want to make them stay, make them trust you.

Social media is a here-to-stay form of marketing that should not be ignored. It can greatly increase brand visibility, as well as expose your product or service to people who would otherwise never discover it. In this article, we have provided some basic tips that can get you started in creating a quality social media marketing campaign.

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Source: http://blogs.lizardwebs.net/2013/01/marketing-your-business-to-the-social-networks-2/

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