Saturday, January 28, 2012

Israel says Iran 'drifting' toward nuke goal line (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday the world must quickly stop Iran from reaching the point where even a "surgical" military strike could not block it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Amid fears that Israel is nearing a decision to attack Iran's nuclear program, Barak said tougher international sanctions are needed against Tehran's oil and banks so that "we all will know early enough whether the Iranians are ready to give up their nuclear weapons program."

Iran insists its atomic program is aimed only at producing energy and research, but it has refused to consider giving up its ability to enrich uranium.

The United Nations has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran, but veto-wielding Russia and China say they see no need for additional punitive measures. That has left the U.S. and the European Union to try to pressure other countries to follow their lead and impose even tougher sanctions.

"We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear. And even the American president and opinion leaders have said that no option should be removed from the table and Iran should be blocked from turning nuclear," Barak told reporters during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

"It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them," he said.

But while Barak called it "a challenge for the whole world" to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, he stopped short of confirming any action that could further stoke Washington's concern about a possible Israeli military strike.

Iran has accused Israel of masterminding the killing of Iranian scientists involved in the nuclear program, but Barak declined to comment on that.

Earlier, he told a panel discussion that "a stable world order" is incompatible with a nuclear-armed Iran because countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will all want the bomb.

"This will be the end of any nonproliferation regime," Barak said. "The major powers in the region will all feel compelled to turn nuclear."

Separately, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged a resumption of dialogue between Western powers and Iran on the nuclear issue.

He said Friday that Tehran must comply with Security Council resolutions and prove conclusively that its nuclear program is not directed at making arms.

"The onus is on Iran," Ban said at a press conference. "They have to prove themselves that their nuclear development program is genuinely for peaceful purposes, which they have not done yet."

Ban expressed concern about the most recent report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which strongly suggested Iran's nuclear program has a military purpose.

On Thursday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is ready to revive talks with the U.S. and other world powers but suggested that Tehran's foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate.

Iran says it won't give up its right to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel, but it has offered to allow IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear sites to ensure that the program won't be weaponized.

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said at a Davos session that "we do not have that much confidence if Iran has declared everything" and its best information "indicates that Iran has engaged in activities relevant to nuclear explosive devices."

"For now they do not have the capacity to manufacture the fuel," he said. "But in the future, we don't know."

Amano added that an IAEA mission would be sent Saturday to address this issue.

"If the enrichment to higher levels is in a declared facility, we can find it very quickly," he said. "The problem is we do not know if these are all the declared facilities."

Richard Haass, a former top U.S. diplomat who heads the Council on Foreign Relations, said international law justifies a pre-emptive strike only to stave off an "imminent" attack.

"The real question is can Iran assure us what it is not doing?" he said.

Israeli defense officials said Friday that new European sanctions on Iran could constrain Israel. They said any Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities may lack international legitimacy while the world waits to see the effects of the new measures.

The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss sensitive military matters.

Much of the West agrees with Israel that Iran, despite its denials, is developing nuclear weapons technology. But the United States clearly worries that a military attack could backfire, by dividing international opposition to Iran ? and send oil prices skyrocketing.

Israel has attacked nuclear sites in foreign countries before. In 1981, Israeli warplanes destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor. In 2007, Israeli aircraft destroyed a site in Syria that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed to be a secretly built nuclear reactor.

But Israel is unlikely to strike without coordinating with the Americans, who maintain forces on aircraft carriers and military bases in the Gulf.

In spite of his tough words to Iran, Ban said that dialogue among the "three-plus-three" ? Germany, France and Britain plus Russia, China and the United States ? is the path forward.

"There is no other alternative for addressing this crisis than peaceful ... resolution through dialogue," said Ban.

Ban noted that there have been a total of five Security Council resolutions so far on the Iranian nuclear program, four calling for sanctions.

It's not just the West that is concerned.

"We take it for granted Iran would want nuclear weapons," Yan Xuetong, dean of the Institute of Modern International Studies at Tsinghua University, said of China. "Certainly, China is working very hard with the international community to prevent this."

___

John Daniszewski in Davos and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_eu/eu_davos_forum_iran

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Genetic screens bring new hope for tackling sleeping sickness

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Research led by scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has exploited a revolutionary genetic technique to discover how human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) drugs target the parasite which causes the disease. The new knowledge could help lead to the development of better treatments for the tens of thousands of people in sub-Saharan Africa who are affected each year.

The findings, published in Nature, are based on the simultaneous analysis of thousands of genes and the action of the five drugs effective against HAT, also known as sleeping sickness. The research was a collaboration between LSHTM, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge and was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

The disease ? usually fatal if left untreated - is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma brucei, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly and attacks the central nervous system. Although treatment is available, until now there has been little understanding of how and why the drugs are particularly effective against African trypanosomes and therefore limited scope to tackle resistance when it arises. In particular, an arsenic-based drug called melarsoprol is increasingly ineffective and has the added problem of severe toxicity in patients; it is only because HAT is such a lethal disease that this drug is still in use.

Employing a process of specific gene disruption that prevents the parasite from producing its signature proteins, and targeting one gene in each cell (the parasite is unicellular), the scientists identified which modifications resulted in drug resistance. This implied that the original gene was essential for the drug to work. The technique, called RNA interference target sequencing (RIT-seq), depends upon technology developed by scientists at LSHTM over several years and a high-throughput DNA sequencing approach developed in collaboration with researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

The team screened the entire T. brucei genome of 7,500 genes and found a total of 50 genes, and therefore 50 proteins, that are linked to drug action and resistance. With this information, the group analysed the biological processes those proteins are involved in and deduced how the drugs interact with the parasite.

Lead researcher Dr David Horn, Reader in Molecular Biology at LSHTM, said: "We now know a lot more about how these drugs work. This new understanding of how these medications kill parasites, or fail to kill parasites, could lead to the development of tests that guide the intervention strategy as well as more active and safer intervention options. What is important now is to begin the process of translating the new findings into clinical advances such as new diagnostics and therapies."

###

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: http://www.lshtm.ac.uk

Thanks to London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117070/Genetic_screens_bring_new_hope_for_tackling_sleeping_sickness

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French politicians argue over who 'owns' Joan of Arc

In an election year Joan of Arc represents 600-year-old values that fit political messages on both sides of the aisle.

? A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

Skip to next paragraph

France is celebrating 600 years of its most famous daughter, Joan of Arc. A young peasant girl hearing heavenly voices, fierce yet compassionate and rising as a military leader to end a foreign siege, Joan of Arc still retains a hold on the French imagination.

Starting as a nobody, she broke nearly every 15th-century gender barrier. In 2012 she?s a Christian heroine in a secular state: For the right, a holy warrior of the sacred soil; on the left, a brave iconoclast fighting corrupt elites.

Now in Orl?ans, where in 1429 she instructed French generals how to kick out the British in nine days, there?s a year of conferences, films, art, music, and parades.

But a fight is brewing. In France, culture is politics, and this is an election year. Nationalists have long claimed Joan as theirs. She?s an icon for the far-right National Front, run by Marine Le Pen.

So on Joan?s official birthday, Jan. 6, President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Joan?s birthplace. ?Joan belongs to no party, to no faction, to no clan,? Mr. Sarkozy said. Ms. Le Pen retorted that Sarkozy had abandoned Joan?s values, as well as French national sovereignty, seen in the ?Islamization? of France.

So it goes. What remains outside politics for the French is a life that got the attention of Shakespeare and Mark Twain alike.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/ejU6ikYa4R0/French-politicians-argue-over-who-owns-Joan-of-Arc

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Senate Democrats promise to push Obama tax agenda (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate promised Wednesday to press ahead this year with legislation drawn from his plans to require millionaires to pay at least 30 percent in taxes and curb tax preferences for companies that ship jobs overseas.

Senate Democratic leaders promise votes soon on such tax "fairness" initiatives, which were a key theme of Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night. They include the so-called Buffett rule, named after a recommendation by billionaire financier Warren Buffett ? who benefits from a low 15 percent tax rate on investments ? that he be required to pay a higher rate than his secretary.

The Democratic drive would follow the ongoing push to renew the payroll tax cut, a debate that has broken in Democrats' favor as House-Senate talks began this week. The initiative is laced with politics, coming immediately after GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney revealed that he pays an effective tax rate of less than 15 percent despite income exceeding $20 million a year.

"The president's blueprint for restoring economic fairness for the middle-class will be the basis of our agenda for this year," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Schumer said the decision by Republicans to embrace the payroll tax cut last year despite widespread reservations within the party bodes well for the upcoming debate.

"Don't underestimate our chances of success," Schumer said.

Both Democrats and Republicans embrace the idea of reforming the tax code but they differ over whether it should be done in a way that generates greater overall tax receipts as Democrats demand or whether it should be "revenue neutral" as most Republicans would like.

Among the ideas endorsed by the Democratic leaders Wednesday was Obama's proposal to require millionaires to pay a higher minimum tax rate, deny corporations the ability to completely avoid taxes and reward companies that create jobs in America instead of shipping them overseas.

"Nothing is more important to Congress than reducing income inequality," said Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

On a campaign swing in Florida, Newt Gingrich said Obama's proposal for a 30 percent tax rate for millionaires "would be a disaster of the first order."

Added Gingrich: "It would double the capital gains tax. Doubling the capital gains tax would lead to a dramatic decline in the stock market, which would affect every pension fund in the United States."

___

Associated Press writer Brian Bakst in Doral, Fla., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_el_pr/us_democrats_taxes

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Factbox: Key quotes from Republican presidential debate (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Republican presidential contenders vying to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 faced off on Monday in Florida where the next Republican nominating contest takes place.

Here are some of their main quotes:

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR

On negative campaigning:

"I'll tell you what I learned something from that last contest in South Carolina and that was I had incoming from all directions. I was overwhelmed with a lot of the attacks, and I'm not going to sit back and get attacked day in and day out without returning fire."

Attacking Gingrich for his work with healthcare companies:

"You can call it whatever you'd like. I call it influence-peddling. It is not right. It is not right. You have a conflict. You are being paid by companies at the same time you're encouraging people to pass legislation which is in their favor."

Attacking Gingrich for his work with mortgage company Freddie Mac:

"You were on this stage, at a prior debate, you said you were paid $300,000 by Freddie Mac as an historian. They don't pay people $25,000 a month for six years as historians. That adds up to about $1.6 million."

On Obama:

"We have to have a president who understands how to get an economy going again. He does not. He plays 90 rounds of golf when you have 25 million people out of work. He says gasoline prices doubled during his presidency. He says don't build a Keystone pipeline."

On releasing his tax returns:

"I agree with my dad on a lot of things, but we also disagree and going out with 12 years of returns is not something I'm going to do. I'm putting out two years, which is more than anyone else on this stage."

"I mean, you'll see my income, how much taxes I've paid, how much I've paid to charity. ... But I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. I don't think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes."

On enforcing immigration law:

"The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here, and so we're not going to round people up."

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Responding to Romney's criticisms:

"Look, I'm not going to spend the evening trying to chase Governor Romney's misinformation."

Charging Romney for his negative attacks:

"Now, let me be very clear, because I understand your technique, which you used on (John) McCain, you used on (Mike) Huckabee, you've used consistently, OK? It's unfortunate, and it's not going to work very well, because the American people see through it."

On accusations he worked as a Washington lobbyist:

"There is a point in the process where it gets unnecessarily personal and nasty. ... The fact is I have had a very long career of trying to represent the people of Georgia and, as speaker, the people of the United States. I think it's pretty clear to say that I have never, ever gone and done any lobbying."

Attacking Romney's record as governor:

"In 2006 when you chaired the Governors' Association, we lost governorships and in the four years that you were governor, we lost seats in the Massachusetts Legislature. So I think as a party builder, the 20 years I spent building the House Republican Party stands pretty good as an example of leadership."

RON PAUL, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS

On running as a third-party candidate:

"I have no plans to do that, no intention and when I have been pressed on it, and they asked me why ... I said, I don't want to, but I haven't been an absolutist."

On U.S. policy toward Cuba:

"I don't like the isolationism of not talking to people ... the Cold War's over and I think we propped up Castro for 40-some years because we put on these sanctions, and (he) only used us as a scapegoat. ... We talked to the Soviets. We talk to the Chinese. ... I don't know why the Cuban people should be so intimidating."

RICK SANTORUM, FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR

On the 2008 federal rescue of troubled U.S. banks:

"My question to Governor Romney and to Speaker Gingrich, if you believe in capitalism that much, then why did you support the bailout of Wall Street, where you had an opportunity to allow destructive capitalism to work, to allow a failure of a system that needed to fail because people did things that in capitalism you pay a price?"

On Iran:

"The bottom line is the theocracy that runs Iran is the equivalent of having al Qaeda in charge of a country with huge oil reserves, gas reserves, and a nuclear weapon."

(Compiled By Lily Kuo; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign_debate_fb

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3-fold risk of infection for elderly after emergency department visits

3-fold risk of infection for elderly after emergency department visits [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Kim Barnhardt
kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca
613-520-7116 x2224
Canadian Medical Association Journal

A visit to the emergency department during nonsummer months was associated with a three-fold risk of acute respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in elderly residents of long-term care facilities, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The study involved 1269 elderly residents of 22 long-term care facilities in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, and Montral and Rivire-du-Loup, Quebec. It included 424 residents who visited emergency departments for a variety of conditions, excluding acute respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms, and 845 residents who did not visit emergency. The researchers focused on visits during nonsummer months as there is a higher rate of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections during these months.

The only literature available on the risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections from emergency department visits is associated with pediatric patients. During the study period from September 2006 to May 2008, 424 residents went to emergency departments. These study participants had a higher rate of chronic illnesses and were more likely to be less independent than residents who were not exposed to emergency departments.

"In our study, a visit to the emergency department between September and May was associated with increased risk of a new respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in the week following the visit, but only in the absence of an outbreak in the resident's facility," writes Dr. Caroline Quach, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, with coauthors.

For people who visited an emergency department, there was three-fold risk of contracting a respiratory or gastrointestinal infection, with an incidence of infection of 8.3/1000 resident-days in this group compared with 3.4/1000 resident-days in the unexposed group.

"Once systemic reasons for the transmission of infection in emergency departments are understood, interventions to reduce the risk should be studied," state the authors. "In the meantime, considerations should be given to the implementation of additional precautions for residents for five to seven days after their return from the emergency department."

###

NOTE: Please use the following public links after the embargo lift: http://www.cmaj.ca/site/press/cmaj110372.pdf


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


3-fold risk of infection for elderly after emergency department visits [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Kim Barnhardt
kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca
613-520-7116 x2224
Canadian Medical Association Journal

A visit to the emergency department during nonsummer months was associated with a three-fold risk of acute respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in elderly residents of long-term care facilities, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The study involved 1269 elderly residents of 22 long-term care facilities in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, and Montral and Rivire-du-Loup, Quebec. It included 424 residents who visited emergency departments for a variety of conditions, excluding acute respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms, and 845 residents who did not visit emergency. The researchers focused on visits during nonsummer months as there is a higher rate of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections during these months.

The only literature available on the risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections from emergency department visits is associated with pediatric patients. During the study period from September 2006 to May 2008, 424 residents went to emergency departments. These study participants had a higher rate of chronic illnesses and were more likely to be less independent than residents who were not exposed to emergency departments.

"In our study, a visit to the emergency department between September and May was associated with increased risk of a new respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in the week following the visit, but only in the absence of an outbreak in the resident's facility," writes Dr. Caroline Quach, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, with coauthors.

For people who visited an emergency department, there was three-fold risk of contracting a respiratory or gastrointestinal infection, with an incidence of infection of 8.3/1000 resident-days in this group compared with 3.4/1000 resident-days in the unexposed group.

"Once systemic reasons for the transmission of infection in emergency departments are understood, interventions to reduce the risk should be studied," state the authors. "In the meantime, considerations should be given to the implementation of additional precautions for residents for five to seven days after their return from the emergency department."

###

NOTE: Please use the following public links after the embargo lift: http://www.cmaj.ca/site/press/cmaj110372.pdf


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/cmaj-tro011712.php

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Giants top 49ers 20-17 in OT to reach Super Bowl (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? The New York Giants have their own Super Bowl formula: in overtime and on the road.

And with Lawrence Tynes' foot.

Five plays after the 49ers' Kyle Williams fumbled a punt, Tynes kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal in overtime, sending the Giants to the Super Bowl with a 20-17 victory over San Francisco in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

In another tight one in this decades-old postseason rivalry, both defenses made key stops before New York capitalized on a rare mistake in San Francisco's resurgent season. Williams' blunder put the Giants in perfect position for another sensational finish in a season full of them.

"That was a tough game. We had to fight for every yard that we got," Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. "Defense was outstanding, special teams getting us two turnovers was huge. That led to 10 points."

The first three overtime series ended in punts before Williams fumbled. The Giants won it moments later and silenced ? for good this time ? the towel-waving, poncho-wearing sellout crowd at cold, rainy Candlestick Park.

"It was one of those situations where I tried to turn it upfield and it just didn't work out," Williams said.

Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis as 3 1/2-point underdogs. The last time the teams met for the NFL title, 2008, the Giants ended the Patriots' bid for a perfect season.

Tynes had a hand, er, foot in getting the Giants to that one, too, kicking the game-winning field goal in overtime at Green Bay.

Devin Thomas put the Giants in position by recovering his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams, who also fumbled earlier to set up a New York touchdown.

"It's my second NFC championship game, my second game-winner," Tynes said of his kick 7:54 into overtime. "It's amazing. I had dreams about this last night. It was from 42, not 31, but I was so nervous today before the game just anticipating this kind of game. I'm usually pretty cool, but there was something about tonight where I knew I was going to have to make a kick. Hats off to Eli, offense, defense. Great win."

Manning went 32 of 58 for 316 yards and two touchdowns and overcame six sacks in his record fifth road playoff win, New York's fifth in a row overall.

Manning threw a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham with 8:34 remaining after Kyle Williams fumbled for the first time.

The Giants challenged that the ball touched Williams' right knee and Thomas recovered with 11:06 left and coach Tom Coughlin won, giving the Giants the ball back at the 29.

"That was a tremendous football game for those that really enjoy football at it's very basic element," said Coughlin, who matched former Cowboys coach Tom Landry for most road playoff wins with seven. "Just a classic football game that just seemed like no one was going to put themselves into position to win it. Fortunately we were able to do that."

A 12-point underdog in the 2008 title game, the Giants battered Brady and got a last-minute TD pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress to win their third Super Bowl. Five months ago, Manning declared he was in the same class as Tom Brady. Now, he'll get another chance to outdo him on the NFL's biggest stage.

During this playoff run, he's already outplayed Aaron Rodgers and the defending champion Packers, and fellow former No. 1 pick Alex Smith.

Victor Cruz set the tone Sunday with eight of his 10 receptions in the first half and finished with 142 yards.

"It's just been a tremendous effort by all of us, man," Cruz said. "We understand that any one of us can get hot at any moment. As long as we're all on the same page and just playing together, man, we've got a great group of guys."

Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 73 and 28 yards and wound up with three catches for 112 yards for the NFC West champions (14-4), who went from 6-10 a year ago to a contender and ended an eight-year playoff drought.

"It will be a tough one. It will take a while to get over," Harbaugh said.

The only other time these two franchises faced off in the conference championship the game finished in memorable fashion. On Jan. 20, 1991, Roger Craig fumbled with the 49ers leading 13-12 late in the fourth quarter and the Giants went on to win 15-13 to deny San Francisco a chance at a third straight Super Bowl title. New York then beat the Bills to capture its second Super Bowl.

These teams met six times in the playoffs between the 1981 and `94 seasons with the winner going on to win the Super Bowl four times.

Smith went 12 for 26 for 196 yards and two touchdowns and was sacked three times. San Francisco converted only one third down, coming on the final play of regulation as the offense was unable to overcome Williams' blunders.

"We all know him. We know how committed he is to winning," Smith said. "It's not on him. I look at the 1-for-13 on third downs. I know he's going to feel bad, but he's still part of our team. We didn't lose the game there. We lost it across the board offensively. We just couldn't get it done."

The Giants appeared on the verge of collapsing and Coughlin's job status in jeopardy just a month ago, when they fell to 7-7 with an embarrassing loss to the Washington Redskins on Dec. 18.

They were facing elimination the following week against the Jets and Rex Ryan, but the Giants won 29-14. They followed with a 31-14 win over Dallas in the regular-season finale to win the NFC East and get to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

New York dominated Atlanta at home in the opening round, and then came another stunner: a 37-20 victory at Green Bay.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_nfc_championship

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Romney tries to change the subject from his taxes (AP)

GILBERT, S.C. ? Working to fend off a surging Newt Gingrich in what's become an unexpectedly tight race, presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday tried to change the subject from his unreleased tax returns to the ethics investigation Gingrich faced 15 years ago.

Romney's campaign appeared visibly rattled the day before the South Carolina primary, his standing in polls having tumbled after a week of constant attack ads and self-made problems. The former Massachusetts governor faced a potentially difficult day Saturday, and senior aides acknowledged they wouldn't be surprised if he lost the primary.

Romney came to South Carolina after twin victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, only to see his Iowa victory thrown into question because of problems with the count. He's spent a week trying to answer questions about his personal wealth and when he will release his tax returns.

Gingrich's House reprimand in 1997 presented an opportunity to talk about something else. When asked if Gingrich should release the Ethics Committee report that resulted in the first such action against a House speaker, Romney replied, "Of course he should."

"Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation," he said. "You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election."

In fact, the 1,280-page committee report on Gingrich is already public. Campaign officials said Romney was referring to other documents that Gingrich has referenced and that Pelosi has also mentioned.

"Given Speaker Gingrich's newfound interest in disclosure and transparency, and his concern about an `October surprise,' he should authorize the release of the complete record of the ethics proceedings against him," Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said.

Romney's campaign is calling South Carolina voters with a recording attacking Gingrich's ethics record and calling on him to release any documents related to the inquiry.

In December, Pelosi told Talking Points Memo that she had served on the committee that conducted the investigation and implied that more information about the investigation could come to light. At the time Gingrich said the House should retaliate against Pelosi if she released any additional information.

"We turned over 1 million pages of material," Gingrich said then. "We had a huge report."

Gingrich's campaign said Romney's criticism represented a "panic attack" on the part of his campaign.

Romney on Friday said again that he wouldn't release his tax returns until April, which would probably be after Republicans choose their nominee.

"I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well-known, popular in the state," Romney said as he campaigned in Gilbert. "Frankly, to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting."

Romney's campaign has rolled out endorsement after endorsement this week as he has tried to build a case that he is the most electable nominee. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman joined him on Thursday and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell campaigned with him Friday.

McDonnell said Friday he had been in touch with Romney's campaign for several weeks as they discussed the timing for the endorsement ? and decided it was most needed now, even as Romney looks ahead to a long campaign.

"It's the first Southern primary. I'm a Southern governor. I thought I could help," McDonnell said.

But the campaign's attack message has jumped from rival to rival and topic to topic as Romney's fought to stay afloat here.

At the beginning of the week, Romney was attacking rival Rick Santorum over voting rights for felons. Then he went after Gingrich's claims that he created jobs under President Ronald Reagan, saying Gingrich was living in "fantasyland." Meanwhile, his surrogates held a series of conference calls attacking his rivals, first calling Gingrich an unreliable leader and then pivoting to attack his ethics record.

In Thursday night's GOP debate, Romney continued his string of off-message remarks about his wealth, saying he has lived "in the real streets of America." A multimillionaire, he has three homes, one each in Massachusetts, California and New Hampshire.

Romney held three campaign events Friday in his last-ditch push to stem Gingrich's momentum. After stopping in Gilbert, he held a rally in North Charleston and flew to Greenville in the conservative upstate for a nighttime rally and a stop at his campaign headquarters before an evening event in Columbia, the state capital.

On a plane between events Friday night, Romney was outwardly cheerful in spite of a difficult day ahead, gamely bantering with reporters as he served pastries from Panera Bread.

"Pain au chocolat, smart move!" he said to one, proferring the box and a pair of tongs to take the desserts.

As he moved farther back into the plane, though, he dispensed with the tongs.

"Just use your fingers," he said. "To heck with it!"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney

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