Malaysia still studying ways to help Lion, says Mustapa

The government said it is still studying options to help the Lion Group, a day after the steelmaker threatened to move its operations to Indonesia.

The options include banning iron and steel scrap exports, Trade Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said during a press conference at the Forbes Global CEO Conference yesterday.the north face jackets Iron and steel scraps are used to make hot rolled coils HRC.

The government allows zero import duty for HRC from both Indonesia and Thailand,china nfl jerseys wholesale but these countries impose a 48 per cent and 43 per cent duty,Youth Nfl jerseys respectively, on the same product from Malaysia.

Lion wants a 35 per cent tariff on HRC imports.

"If we do that, consumers will have to pay more and construction cost will increase," Mustapa said.

Investigations into the matter under the Safeguards Act 2006 were initiated on May 1 2011 after receiving petitionfrom Lion's subsidiary group, Megasteel Sdn Bhd.

The government found that although imports jumped 35 per cent between January 1 2010 and September 30 2010, they were not hurting the domestic industry.

Megasteel refuted this claim and said the continuous import caused hardship to its company and its 4,600 employees. The group is requesting the government to provide a more conducive environment to support the local steel industry to grow and expand in both upstream and downstream sectors.

In an earlier report,cheap Chargers Jerseys Lion chairman Tan Sri William Cheng said the company would agree to a ceiling price for local HRC if it felt the group was making too much profit.

N.China NFL jerseys wholesaleC.cheap wedding dress senate
approves putting same-sex marriage amendment on 2012 ballot

North
Carolina will put an amendment banning same-sex marriage on the ballot in May
after the state's House and Senate passed the measure.

The measure
cleared the Senate by a vote of 30-16, according to Mark Johnson, spokesperson
for governor's office. On Monday the House also passed the measure by a vote of
76-41.

If the constitutional amendment is approved by voters during the
primary in May, North Carolina would become the final state in the Southeast to
add a constitutional amendment regarding same-sex marriage.

Proponents
of the measure said they felt it was important that the amendment be added so
that it would protect the state's policy on gay marriage. North Carolina
currently has a ban on same-sex marriage, but legislators are seeking to protect
that ban by chiseling it into their constitution.

“We think the people
of this state – not judges, bureaucrats, or politicians – should define
marriage, which I personally believe should be between one man and one woman,"
Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said in a statement after the measure
passed. "We look forward to eight months of healthy debate before voters decide
this issue at the polls.Authentic Baseball
Jerseys”

The proposed constitutional amendment sparked anger from
many Democrats in the legislature, who argued the Republicans were trying to
push through the measure since they have control for the first time in 140
years.

Others argued the legislature should be focused on more pressing
issues such as the economy or jobs.

That concern also came from North
Carolina Gov.wholesale silk
tie Bev Perdue.

Investigators search for Susan Powell near Delta

Topaz Mountain ? The search for missing West Valley City woman Susan Cox Powell has taken police to another remote location, this time a well-known rock hounding area in Utah’s west desert.

Police detectives on all-terrain vehicles, and cadaver dogs and their handlers on foot, searched about a two-square-mile area around Topaz Mountain on Tuesday, said West Valley City police Lt. Bill Merritt.

Merritt said they collected a few items but nothing known to be a clue in the 22-month-old disappearance.

"The chances of finding anything here are probably slim to none," Merritt said, "but these are the ways these cases get solved.Nike shox shoes"

Merritt acknowledged the search is designed to find a body, adding that the likelihood Susan Powell is alive is low.

A search of the area — near Delta, and about 135 miles southwest of Salt Lake City — also was conducted on Monday, and West Valley City police said they plan to continue searching through Thursday.Golf Equipment Wholesale

Merritt said detectives had no specific information indicating Powell’s body was at Topaz Mountain. But her husband, Josh Powell, liked to hunt for gems and rare rocks like those found at Topaz Mountain.

And, Merritt pointed out, Topaz Mountain is about 30 miles from Simpson Springs, where Josh Powell claims he took his two young sons camping the night of Dec. 6, 2009, when Susan Powell went missing.brand name watchesRoger Vivier flat shoes

Janet Napolitano: Drudge is 'just wrong' on privacy

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is calling out web news aggregator Matt Drudge for suggesting that she's an ogre eager to invade the privacy of Americans and in particular those who travel by air.

"I think my nickname is 'Big Sis.' I don't think he means it kindly, actually," Napolitano said Tuesday, accurately recalling the moniker that often accompanies scary-looking photos of her on Drudge's popular news site.

"I think that what he means is we are watching too much—kind of an Orwellian vieStretch tricot knitted fabricw.Jogos Quentes Gold He's just wrong.BlackBerry Wholesale I mean, he's just wrong," Napolitano declared during a POLITICO Playbook breakfast at the Newseum. She said the privacy impact of new airport screening technology and similar programs are thoroughly vetted before they are implemented.cheap adidas shoes

"We want to be conscious of civil liberties and civil rights protections—and we are," Napolitano insisted. "We don't do anything without kind of running it through our own civil rights and privacy office. We're one of only two departments in the federal government that actually has a presidentially-appointed privacy office and officer."

(While Obama did name a privacy officer for the Department of Homeland Security, the president has so far failed to nominate a quorum for a Congressionally-mandated oversight board to track civil liberties issues government-wide.)

"We run all of our programs our technology buys all of those kinds of things we think about privacy and when too much is too much, but on the other hand our responsibility is to maximize our ability to prevent something violent from being successful. So we're always striking that balance but we think we've hit it pretty right," she said.

National Guard Members Among Four Dead in Carson City Nevada IHOP Shooting Rampage

Investigators looking into the shooting rampage at a Carson City, Nev.wholesale POLO Ralph Lauren SERIES, IHOP restaurant today that left four dead, including the shooter, and eight wounded are trying to determine whether the man targeted a group of National Guard personnel in the restaurant, police said.

Of the 12 people shot in the rampage,Cheap moncler vests five were National Guard members who were sitting together, all in uniform, in the back of the restaurant. Two of the service members -- a man and a woman -- died, police said.

Because of where the Guard members were sitting and the fact they were in uniform,digital video recorders investigators say it appears the shooter -- Eduardo Sencion, 33, a Carson City resident who worked in nearby Tahoe and had no criminal history -- could have targeted them, Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said this evening.

"Information suggests at this point in time that the National Guard members were sitting all the way into the restaurant along the southeast side and that he entered through the front doors and traveled all the way through the restaurant to the back area," Furlong said.

"Obviously when five out of 11 of the victims are uniformed National Guard members, that's taking a priority interest in our agency," he said.

Investigators are still trying to determine what motive there might have been for the shooting rampage, the sheriff said.

"There has been some suggestion by his family members that there is some mental health issues that we are going to have to look into," he said.

Sencion allegedly walked into the restaurant shortly before 9 a.m. brandishing an AK47 and started shooting, then ended it by shooting himself in the head,cheap nfl jerseys china police said. He was taken to a hospital where he died three hours later.

Wen phones new Japanese PM

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday had a telephone conversation with his new Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda to discuss bilateral relations.steeler jerseys cheap

Extending congratulations to Noda for his new post as Japan's head of government, Wen said that as water-linked close neighbors, China and Japan have common interests in a broad range of areas.

Promoting the long-term stable and sound development of bilateral relations is conducive to the welfare of both peoples as well as to the peace and prosperity of Asia and the world at large,starcraft 2 Coaching Wen said.

The Chinese government stands ready to work with Japan's new cabinet to adhere to the principles of the four political documents between the two countries, keep high-level contacts, expand exchanges and cooperation in various areas and promote coordination in regional and international affairs,Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys he said.

The year of 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations.

The two sides need to take the opportunity of the anniversary to further advance their strategic and mutually beneficial relations,digital scales supplier the Chinese premier said.

Wen also wished the people in Japan's quake and tsunami-hit areas success in their reconstruction drive and a peaceful life at an early date.

Noda, for his part, said that the new Japanese cabinet regards the Japan-China relationship as one of the country's most important bilateral relations.

Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater wins the Dally M Medal for Player of the Year

A blistering six-week purple patch has seen Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater come from the clouds to claim the 2011 Dally M medal on Tuesday night.

The award comes as validation of Slater's outstanding season, but it is a curious set of circumstances that saw him snatch the award from the hands of Benji Marshall,cheap nfl jerseys chinaAnime importers teammate Cooper Cronk and Manly's Glenn Stewart - and all despite sitting out Melbourne's final-round loss to Sydney Roosters.cheap coach handbag

Slater (29 points) knocked off hot favourite Marshall thanks to a brilliant run of form that started when he collected two points in the Storm's round 19 26-0 thrashing of Canberra.

Following that win, Slater polled heavily in the next five matches - including a man-of-the-match effort against St George Illawarra in his 200th NRL game.

Slater, who said he expected Marshall to be a 'shoo-in' to win the award, admitted to some nerves as the race came to a close, as he anticipated he wouldn't poll any votes in round 25 and 26.

"I was nervous at the end,digital video recorders I didn't come here nervous ... I honestly didn't think I would've been right up there," he told reporters after winning the award.

"I knew Benji had a great finish to the year and I thought he was a shoo-in, but with about three rounds to go I knew I wouldn't pick up any votes in the last two rounds - we had a pretty disappointing loss against Manly and obviously the last round I didn't play so I was a little bit nervous but I'm pretty happy Robbie Farah had a blinder in (round 26)."

China issues white paper on peaceful development

The Chinese government on Tuesday published a white paper on the country's development, stressing peaceful development is China's strategic choice to realize modernization, make itself strong and prosperous and make more contribution to the progress of human civilization.

The white paper, released by the State Council Information Office, introduces the path, objective and foreign policy of the peaceful development and elaborates on what China's peaceful development means to the rest of the world.Moncler jackets

"Situated in the East, China, a country with an ancient civilization and a population of over 1.3 billion, is making big strides in its advance toward modernization. What path of development has China chosen? What will China's development bring to the rest of the world? " it says at the start.

China has declared to the rest of the world on many occasions that it takes a path of peaceful development and is committed to upholding world peace and promoting common development and prosperity for all countries, the white paper says.Anime toys merchandise distributor

At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century and on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC),Nfl bears jersreys cheap China declared solemnly again to the world that peaceful development is a strategic choice made by China to realize modernization, make itself strong and prosperous, and make more contribution to the progress of human civilization, the white paper says.

Stressing China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, the white paper says this is "a path of scientific, independent, open,Human hair Full lace wigs peaceful, cooperative and common development."

On China's overall goal of pursuing peaceful development, the white paper says that the goal is to promote development and harmony domestically and pursue cooperation and peace internationally.

Yemeni president authorizes deputy to sign GCC deal with opposition

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday authorized his deputy to sign a Gulf-brokered deal after launching dialogue with the opposition to set the timetable for power transfer,hair weaveProbowl jerseys wholesale state-run Saba news agency reported.wholesales mac Lip gloss

"We decided to authorize Deputy President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with necessary constitutional authority to sign the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative," Saba cited a decree issued by Saleh as saying.

"Hadi's signature to the GCC initiative should be done after he launched a dialogue with the opposition parties that signed the initiative to set agreed timetable and mechanism to implement the power-transfer deal," the decree said.

"The implementation of the GCC initiative should be carried out under the supervision of the regional and international community, in order to remove the political and security tension and to ensure the arrangement for holding early presidential elections that guarantee a peaceful and democratic power transition,nfl throwback jerseys from china" it said.

Saleh, who is still in Saudi Arabia for rehabilitation from injuries he sustained in a shelling attack on his presidential compound on June 3, said in an audio speech aired by the state TV earlier last month that he was willing to sign the GCC initiative to prepare for holding elections for a new president.

The GCC deal stipulated Saleh to step down in 30 days and hand over power to the vice president, who will then form an opposition- led national government and arrange presidential elections in 60 days.

AP ENTERPRISE: Examining football player majors

When Jay Finch arrived at Georgia Tech, he wasn't just interested in being a lineman for the Yellow Jackets football team. He wanted to study architecture, too.

Then he talked with some student advisers, who gave him a dose of reality.

"They were like, 'You can expect anywhere from 100 to 120 hours of studio time,'" Finch recalled. "I said, 'Oh, like in a month.' And they were like, 'No, in a week.' And I was like, 'On top of football?'"

With that, Finch hopped aboard the M Train.

At Georgia Tech, where the famous fight song proclaims "I'm a heck of an engineer," nearly 70 percent of the football team (43 of 62 players) has chosen to major in management, a business degree dubbed the "M Train" by those on campus who consider it an easier route to a diploma than the school's renowned engineering program.

But the Yellow Jackets are hardly the only school where players tend to congregate in the same fields of study. There are four others universities where at least half the sophomores, juniors and seniors playing football are pursuing the same degree, The Associated Press found in a survey of the 68 schools in the conferences which receive automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series, plus Notre Dame and Big East-member-to-be TCU.

At Vanderbilt, it's human and organizational development (35 of 59). At UCLA, history is a big draw (27 of 47). At Wake Forest, there's been a gridiron run on the communications department (34 of 60). At Baylor, upset winners over TCU on the opening weekend of this season, expect to find a lot of big guys in general studies (27 of 53).

This is not mere coincidence, of course. While it's natural for a selected group of students — in this case, male athletes — to be interested in the same classroom subjects, it's also apparent many are drawn to courses that are more accommodating to their Saturday pursuit.

"I wanted to dedicate myself more toward football," conceded Finch, a sophomore center. "Yeah, I did take a little bit of the easier road. Management is still hard. You've still got to go to class.

"But," he added, "at least I'm not up 'til 3 in the morning drawing."

The trend is so prevalent it has its own name — clustering — and extends far beyond Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Wake Forest and Baylor.

The AP survey, compiled from media guides, university websites and information provided by the schools, showed at least half the football players with declared majors at a dozen other universities are bunched in two fields of study. At 22 schools, 50 percent or more are pursuing a degree from a group of three majors.

That means more than half of the schools at the core of major college football — 39 of 68 teams — have some level of clustering.

At a recent summit hosted by NCAA President Mark Emmert, where a rash of rule-breaking was the main focus, university presidents quietly discussed the impact that clustering has on the academic experience for student-athletes.

While the governing body has no intention of mandating more diversity in the selection of majors, it is looking at compiling more data on what players are studying, hoping it can be used to improve athletes' academic experience.

"We're not going to say certain majors are out of bounds. We're not going to say you have to take certain majors," said Kevin Lennon,Moncler men jackets the NCAA's vice president of academic and membership affairs. "Those are personal decisions that every student-athlete has to make, just like any student."

The situation puts into focus one of the ever-present conflicts in big-time college sports: winning games,Louis Vuitton Handbags wholesale making money and keeping the boosters happy vs. providing athletes with a quality education and keeping up school standards.

Georgia Tech, for instance, receives more requests from the football team than any other for special admissions — enrollment for those who don't meet the standards applied to the overall student body. But officials at the Atlanta school point out management is one of the most rigorous business programs in the country, requiring everyone to take two calculus courses and two lab sciences.

"There's always going to be that tension," said Anderson Smith, the senior vice provost for academic affairs. "You've got to recruit who the best players are. But it's a much more heterogeneous population than what we have applying to Georgia Tech as regular students."

Vanderbilt is considered the toughest academic school in the football-crazy Southeastern Conference, which is usually cited as the reason the Commodores perennially wind up at the bottom of the league standings. And yet 35 of 59 non-freshmen were going for the same degree.

By the way, what is human and organizational development anyway?

"Leadership is one of the things that we focus on, and we have a very active and engaged student body," said Beth Shinn, who chairs the department. "My guess is any club or sorority you would look at would have an overrepresentation of HOD people."

In fact, human and organization development is the most popular major on campus among all students, including three of the last six student government presidents, according to Shinn. It's a wide-ranging field,Golf Ladies Clubs requiring courses in calculus, economics, statistics and social sciences, as well as psychology,Moncler women's jackets sociology, anthropology, political science and public policy.