Italy progress lifts Wall Street, S&P near record

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Monday, extending a recent rally as Italy formed a government and relieved a two-month-long overhang of geopolitical uncertainty from the market.

In addition, better-than-expected housing data boosted market optimism and put the S&P 500 on track to set a record close after rising for six of the past seven sessions.

Wall Street followed European stocks higher as Italy's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta's focus on growth and away from austerity in his inaugural speech lifted hopes for further stimulus from the European Central Bank.

"After the election there was a lot of uncertainty about whether Italy could form a government, so now there is not only a great deal of relief over that, but also expectations for additional monetary policies from the ECB," said Alec Young, global equity strategist at S&P Equity Research in New York.

Policymakers of the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve will meet separately this week, and the Fed is expected to maintain its stimulus. Data on Monday showing muted inflation continued to give the Fed room for accommodative measures.

Also lifting markets was Apple Inc , which jumped 3.5 percent to $431.53 after taking initial steps for what would be its first debt sale, which is set to be one of the most anticipated bond sales of the year. Technology stocks <.splrct> rose 1.7 percent the best-performing sector on the day.

A report showed contracts to buy previously owned homes rose last month to their highest level since April 2010, showing underlying strength in the housing market recovery, even though the pace of sales growth has cooled in recent months.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 126.17 points, or 0.86 percent, at 14,838.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 13.93 points, or 0.88 percent, at 1,596.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 34.17 points, or 1.04 percent, at 3,313.43.

The S&P 500 is about a point away from 1,597.35, its all-time intraday high, which it hit earlier this month. If the index closes above 1,593.37, that will mark a new all-time closing high.

"The market's trend continues to be higher, but it is still attractive at these valuations," said Young, who has a 12-month target of 1,670 for the S&P.

Moody's Corp was the S&P 500's top percentage gainer, jumping 9.4 percent to $60.29 after the company settled a lawsuit alleging that it had misled investors about the safety of risky debt vehicles it had rated.

McGraw-Hill Cos , whose Standard & Poor's unit said it settled similar suits, rose 3.2 percent to $53.64.

Roper Industries Inc fell 3.5 percent to $118.96 after reporting first-quarter revenue that missed expectations, though it raised its full-year profit outlook.

Of the 274 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for current season, 69 percent have beat analysts' expectations and 43.2 percent have reported revenue above expectations.

The second half of the earnings season may not be as strong as the first one, data showed.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-higher-ahead-data-corporate-results-115148731.html

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Older is wiser: Study shows software developers' skills improve over time

Apr. 29, 2013 ? There is a perception in some tech circles that older programmers aren't able to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, and that they are discriminated against in the software field. But a new study from North Carolina State University indicates that the knowledge and skills of programmers actually improve over time -- and that older programmers know as much (or more) than their younger peers when it comes to recent software platforms.

"We wanted to explore these perceptions of veteran programmers as being out of step with emerging technologies and see if we could determine whether older programmers are actually keeping up with changes in the field," says Dr. Emerson Murphy-Hill, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper on the research. "And we found that, in some cases, veteran programmers even have a slight edge."

The researchers looked at the profiles of more than 80,000 programmers on a site called StackOverflow, which is an online community that allows users to ask and answer programming questions. The site also allows users to rate the usefulness of other users' questions and answers. Users who are rated as asking good questions and providing good answers receive points that are reflected in their "reputation score." The higher an individual's reputation score, the more likely it is that the user has a robust understanding of programming issues.

For the first part of the study, the researchers compared the age of users with their reputation scores. They found that an individual's reputation increases with age, at least into a user's 40s. There wasn't enough data to draw meaningful conclusions for older programmers.

The researchers then looked at the number of different subjects that users asked and answered questions about, which reflects the breadth of their programming interests. The researchers found that there is a sharp decline in the number of subjects users weighed in on between the ages of 15 and 30 -- but that the range of subjects increased steadily through the programmers' 30s and into their early 50s.

Finally, the researchers evaluated the knowledge of older programmers (ages 37 and older) compared to younger programmers (younger than 37) in regard to relatively recent technologies -- meaning technologies that have been around for less than 10 years.

For two smartphone operating systems, iOS and Windows Phone 7, the veteran programmers had a significant edge in knowledge over their younger counterparts. For every other technology, from Django to Silverlight, there was no statistically significant difference between older and younger programmers.

"The data doesn't support the bias against older programmers -- if anything, just the opposite," Murphy-Hill says.

The paper, "Is Programming Knowledge Related To Age?," will be presented May 18 at the 10th Working Conference on Mining Software Repositories, sponsored by IEEE and ACM in San Francisco, Calif. Lead author of the paper is Patrick Morrison, a Ph.D. student at NC State.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/x83r5bdODrA/130429114826.htm

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Syrian premier escapes bomb attack in Damascus

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian fire fighters extinguishing burning cars after a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013. State-run Syrian TV says the country's prime minister has escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy. The TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the attack in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian fire fighters extinguishing burning cars after a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013. State-run Syrian TV says the country's prime minister has escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy. The TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the attack in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian fire fighters extinguishing burning cars after a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013. State-run Syrian TV says the country's prime minister has escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy. The TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the attack in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian fire fighters extinguishing burning cars after a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013. State-run Syrian TV says the country's prime minister has escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy. Syrian TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the attack in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh. (AP Photo/SANA)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a Syrian man reacts after a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013. State-run Syrian TV says the country's prime minister has escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy. Syrian TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the attack. (AP Photo/SANA)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT -- This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrians carrying a charred body after a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013. State-run Syrian TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqir has escaped unhurt in an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy. (AP Photo/SANA)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Syria's prime minister escaped an assassination attempt Monday when a bomb exploded near his convoy in Damascus, state media reported, in the latest attack to target a top government official.

Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was not hurt in the explosion in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, state TV said. The TV showed video of heavily damaged cars and debris in the area as firefighters fought to extinguish a large blaze set off by the blast.

A government official said two people were killed and 11 wounded, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group said the explosion killed at least five, including two of al-Halqi's bodyguards and one of the drivers in his convoy.

The government official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements to reporters.

As evidence that the prime minister was unhurt, the state-run Al-Ikhbariya station said al-Halqi went into a regular weekly meeting with an economic committee just after the bombing. The station broadcast video of the prime minister sitting around a table in a room with several other officials.

But in the recorded comments after the meeting, al-Halqi made no reference to the bombing, nor was he asked about it by reporters, leaving doubt as to whether the video was shot before or after the bombing.

The state news agency quoted al-Halqi as saying that the assassination attempt exposed how armed groups "are bankrupt" after the latest advances made by Syrian troops around the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's suicide attack. Such bombings have been a trademark of Islamic extremists fighting in the rebel ranks, raising concerns about their role in Syria's civil war.

Syria's conflict started with largely peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011 but eventually turned into a civil war that has so far killed more than 70,000 people, according to the United Nations.

State TV quoted Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi as saying that targeting al-Halqi, who is in charge of carrying out the political program to end Syria's crisis, shows that some in the opposition "reject a political solution."

In January, al-Halqi formed a ministerial committee for dialogue with opposition groups. The dialogue is part of a peace plan, including a national reconciliation conference, that Assad outlined in a speech that month.

The opposition insists it will not accept anything less than Assad's departure, and no progress has been reported from the dialogue since it was announced.

A Syrian government official told The Associated Press that an improvised explosive device was placed under a car that was parked in the area and was detonated as al-Halqi's convoy passed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The attack in the highly secure Mazzeh neighborhood took place only about 100 meters (yards) from the Swiss ambassador's residence. The posh area also is home to a major military air base. Security forces sealed off the area, allowing only pedestrians to get near the scene of the bombing.

Damaged cars, their seats soaked with blood, were surrounded by debris. A blackened shell of a school bus was left standing. A man told state TV that none of the students on board were hurt because the explosion went off shortly after they had left the bus and entered the school.

Later Monday, the Observatory reported that nine people, including four fighters and three civilians, were killed in government airstrikes on al-Halqi's home village of Jassem in the southern province of Daraa.

The attack was just the latest targeting a senior official in the Syrian capital during the past year.

On July 18, a blast at Syria's national security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers killed top four officials, including the defense minister and his deputy, who was Assad's brother-in-law. That attack also wounded the interior minister.

In December, a car bomb targeted the Interior Ministry in Damascus, killing several people and wounding more than 20, including Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar. Initially, Syrian state media said al-Shaar was not hurt in the Dec. 12 blast. News of his wounds emerged a week later, after he was taken to neighboring Lebanon to be treated for a serious back injury.

This month, Ali Ballan, head of public relations at the Ministry of Social Affairs and a member of Syria's relief agency, was shot dead while dining in a restaurant in Mazzeh.

Al-Halqi, a senior member of Assad's ruling Baath party, took office last year after his predecessor, Riad Hijab, defected to Jordan. Al-Halqi was Syria's health minister before taking the post.

Elsewhere in Syria, the Observatory reported fighting Monday near the Damascus International Airport south of the capital. The group said there were also clashes in the northern neighborhood of Barzeh and shelling of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, south of Damascus.

The Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, reported clashes and air raids around the military helicopter base of Mannagh near the border with Turkey in the northern province of Aleppo.

Also Monday, a new jihadi group calling itself the "Ahrar al-Bekaa Brigades" announced its establishment and warned the pro-Syrian Lebanese militant Hezbollah group to stop intervening in the Syrian civil war or face attacks in Lebanon.

According to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks Islamist extremist messages, the statement was distributed on pro-Syrian revolution Facebook pages Sunday.

In the statement, the previously unheard of group claimed that Hezbollah is acting on Iran's orders to "slaughter" the Syrian people. It pledged to prevent Hezbollah's intervention "with all means and ways, even if we have to move the fight to the inside of the Lebanese territory."

The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah is known to be backing regime fighters in Shiite villages near the Lebanon border against the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. The Syrian opposition accuses Hezbollah of taking part in the Syrian military crackdown.

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-29-Syria/id-708cbb13e1734d96bc0763d2ca201ece

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Taliban start spring Afghan offensive with bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Taliban insurgents marked the start of their spring offensive on Sunday by claiming responsibility for a remote-controlled roadside bomb blast that killed three police officers.

In past years, spring has marked a significant upsurge in fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces along with their local allies. This fighting season is a key test, as the international coalition is scheduled to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces next year.

In Sunday's attack in Ghazni province in southern Afghanistan, a bomb exploded under police vehicles traveling to the district of Zana Khan to take part in a military operation against insurgents, Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, the province's deputy governor, told The Associated Press.

He said the blast destroyed the vehicle carrying Col. Mohammad Hussain, the deputy provincial police chief, killing him and two other officers. Ahmadi said two officers also were wounded in the insurgent operation, which he said clearly targeted Hussain.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility in an email sent to news media. He called the bombing the first attack in the Taliban spring offensive.

April already has been the deadliest month this year for attacks across the country, where Afghan security forces are increasingly taking the lead on the battlefield in the war that has lasted more than 11 years.

Insurgents have escalated attacks recently in a bid to gain power and influence ahead of next year's presidential election and the planned withdrawal of most U.S. and other foreign combat troops by the end of 2014. U.S.-backed efforts to try to reconcile the Islamic militant movement with the Afghan government are gaining little traction.

There are about 100,000 international troops in Afghanistan, including 66,000 Americans. A top priority of the U.S. force, which is slated to drop to about 32,000 by February 2014, is boosting the strength and confidence of Afghan forces.

Also Sunday, the U.S. Air Force said the coalition plane that crashed on Saturday in southern Afghanistan, killing four service members, was a MC-12 Liberty aircraft.

The twin-engine turboprop plane provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or direct support to ground forces. It crashed in Zabul province, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Kandahar Air Field, the Air Force statement said.

The four Air Force service members were deployed to the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron with the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kandahar Air Field, the statement said. Their bodies were recovered. The cause of the crash is under investigation, but NATO has said initial reports indicate there was no enemy activity in the area where the plane went down.

Taliban has named its spring offensive after Khalid ibn al-Walid, a companion of Islam's Prophet Muhammad who became a legendary Muslim military commander known as the "Drawn Sword of God." The insurgents said their forces planned to infiltrate enemy ranks to conduct "insider attacks" and target military and diplomatic sites with suicide bombers.

In the eastern province of Nangarhar, two local officials said insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy as it passed through two nearby villages on Sunday and that four Afghan civilians were killed in the crossfire when the soldiers fired back. The U.S.-led international military coalition said it was investigating reports of civilian casualties in the province on Sunday but could not immediately confirm them.

The coalition also said Afghan and foreign forces arrested six insurgents on Sunday ? three in Helmand province, one in Baghlan province and two in Kandahar province. The report said the two taken into custody in Kandahar city included a local Taliban leader who allegedly coordinated assassinations, sniper ambushes and other attacks against coalition and Afghan forces.

___

Follow Thomas Wagner on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/tjpwagner

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-start-spring-afghan-offensive-bombing-171103514.html

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Share the vision of joining in | Surf Coast Times ? Bellarine Times ...

Legally blind Patsy Barton, 83, is helped by Vision Australia support worker Marg Tozer to make a woollen scarf.

Vision Australia will showcase its services at an open day in Geelong next month. The five-hour event will promote the non-profit organisation?s services.

Vision Australia encourages those who are blind, sighted or have low vision to participate to their potential within their community. There will be service information, displays, demonstrations, clients, staff and volunteers in Vision Australia who will be available for questions.

Vision Australia information library services will be present to discuss talking books, magazines and other information. Displays include recreation options, adaptive technology, orientation and mobility, Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, orthoptics and children?s services.
Visitors can view the Geelong Vision Australia Radio studio.

This broadcasts on 99.5FM ? where volunteers work to provide a very valuable service to people who are blind, have low vision or are print handicapped.

The Geelong Macular Support Group will meet for their ?bring your own lunch? meeting from noon-12.30pm and the door is open for anyone interested to join them. From 12.45-1.45pm, there will be a presentation on DisabilityCare Australia (the new name for the National Disability Insurance Scheme), followed by a presentation on adaptive technology.

The Vision Australia open day will be held at 79 High Street, Belmont from 10am-3pm on May 3. For more information, call Noel on 5249 2701.

Source: http://www.surfcoasttimes.com.au/news/community/2013/04/29/share-the-vision-of-joining-in/

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Shropshire&#39;s County Show&#39;s ?13k loss as footfall disappoints ...

Shropshire?S County Show made a ?13,000 loss last year after visitor numbers fell short of organisers? expectations, new accounts show.

Figures in the accounts of Shropshire and West Midlands Agricultural Society show that despite the society investing in improvements to the showground, the rise in footfall did not match expectations and brought in only ?3,000 more than the previous year.

But because an extra ?22,000 was spent on the main events in the ring, the show lost ?13,000.

However, the society, a charitable company, still made an overall ?9,531 profit for the year.

Staff costs accounted for just ?30,000 of the year?s outlay of ?250,000.

The society is due to pay ?30,000 to creditors as part of the Company Voluntary Arrangement for the old West Mids Show, while the rent paid by the society is also set to be increased, making the current year a ?difficult and challenging? one for the company, the report adds.

In the report, society chairman Neale Sadler said: ?In a year that a substantial number of shows and events were cancelled due to the appalling weather, we have to feel extremely lucky that for us, for once, luck really was on our side and we had glorious weather for our first one-day county show.?

He added: ?Unfortunately we weren?t so lucky for the inaugural Shropshire County Horse Show the week before, which was preceded by a very wet night causing a few problems getting the horseboxes on to the showground. However the day itself was mostly fine and not too cold so we can be a little relieved.?

The document, filed with Companies House, also outlines plans for this year?s show. Both the county show and the horse show will be held on a single day, it says, after the inaugural one-day show this year suited farm traders, as well as meeting more widespread approval.

The buoyancy of agricultural trade helped the show, although there were concerns about the sluggish general trade entries.

Source: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2013/04/27/shropshires-county-shows-13k-loss-as-footfall-disappoints/

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