According to sources, the court said Tuesday it will return to the issue of affirmative action in higher education for the first time since its 2003 decision endorsing the use of race as a factor in admissions. 

However, the new case will be argued in October, weeks before the presidential election, because the Supreme Court’s calendar is filled through spring. 

The Obama Administration will not take part in on the issue even if it could choose to do so. Justice Elena Kagan also announced that she disqualified herself from hearing the case, presumably because she had worked on it previously as solicitor general. 

Arguments in the case will be heard during the court’s next term, which starts in October.

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A video camera will be installed in the church on Saturday to record the funeral at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Officials started to investigateHouston’s death after finding prescription drugs in her hotel room. The 48-years-old Whitney Houston was found unconscious in the bathtub by a member of her personal staff last Saturday night.

According to newspapers, Houston’s funeral begins at 12:00 EST (17:00 GMT) on February 18 and is expected to last 90 minutes. Sources tell that Houston will be buried Saturday in Fair View Cemetery in Westfield, next to her dad. Whitney’s father, John Russell Houston Jr, died in 2003.

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A 9-year-oldMainegirl is back home from Children’s Hospital Boston, three month after a receiving multiple organs transplant. 

Last fall the doctors gave Alannah Shevenell six new organs in a transplant operation: a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus, which were been attacked by an extremely complicated tumor. 

“They come together sort of as a cluster, so it’s almost like transplanting one big organ,” said Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the director of the Children’s Pediatric Transplant Center. 

According to hospital officials, “it was the world’s first known esophageal transplant and the most organs transplanted at one time inNew England.” 

Even though Alannah is now home healthy and active her grandparents have to check her blood sugar and make sure that she takes all her medications each day according to doctors’ prescriptions. 

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The new smart TV is installed with Samsung Smart Touch Control, complete with touchpad, and voice control.  

Samsung’s latest smart TV has the option to change channels and adjust the volume with a simple swipe of the touchpad. It can recognize the hand motions. 

With the newest Samsung Smart TV, it is possible to use the Smart Touch Control’s microphone to tell to television what to do. It can recognize human voice in some 30 languages to turn itself on or off, switch channels or adjust volume.  

“The new smart TVs are being introduced for the first time inKoreaand the main products in the new ES 8000 series will be launched worldwide by the end of March,” said Kim, chief of the firm’s television business. 

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Kenyan distance runner Vivian Cheruiyot, who won the 5,000-and 10,000-metre titles at the world championships last year, took the sportswoman’s award, Vancouver Sun reported.

Spanish and European football champions Barcelona won the Team of the Year award while Northern Ireland golf celebrated two gongs.

Rory Mcllroy clinched the World Breakthrough of the Year title after winning the US Open and Darren Clarke collected the Comeback of the Year following a maiden British Open Championship triumph at his 20th attempt.

In other awards, South Africa’s ‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius collected the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and American surfer Kelly Slater was named Action Sportsperson of the Year.

Manchester United and England football great Sir Bobby Charlton was given a Lifetime Achievement Award but couldn’t collect it in person due to a recent illness, with United manager Sir Alex Ferguson accepting it on his behalf, according to AFP.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net

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There are some tips for a successful marketing email, what you have to write and what you do not have to write in your emails. 

You have to compose a creatively and attractively email to support your principal purpose or it can be trashed immediately or considered spam. The subject is one of the most important lines in email marketing. It will decide to the customer if your email is interesting enough to be read or deleted. Don’t use spam words like: free sale, get free, get cash etc.  

An important tip for composing an effective subject is to pay attention to customer’s interests and needs.  In this case, “How to” is the best expression to represent the customer’s need and eventually offer a solution.  

Pay attention to length. The ideal length is about 30-40 characters. 

The message body is the section of your email where you can offer the details about your products and services.  Concentrate on one service that is of particular importance to your customer. Your message must be succinctly represented in just a few short paragraphs. 

The last section, summing paragraph, must contain at least one link to your website. Here you invite them to visit your website, email or contact them to talk about your products and services. 

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Russia and western countries are locked in diplomatic arm-wrestling over demands that Syria President Bashar al-Assad, hand over power to his deputy as part of a U.N.-backed Arab plan for a peaceful solution to the country’s bloody crisis.

The latest draft of a resolution being submitted to the U.N. Security Council, and being discussed by ambassadors in New York late on Thursday, has dropped an explicit demand that Assad bows out but still fully supports the “political transition” sought by the Arab League. The change is triggering concerns that the resolution could be drastically watered down to secure agreement. 

Diplomatic sources said the main problem was Russian concern that the league plan constituted regime change by another name. “Moscow is looking to fudge this issue of political transition,” said one western official. 

Language could be further softened during the negotiations, with Britain and other western countries signalling satisfaction with a Russian abstention. 

The draft U.N. resolution now looks unlikely to be put to a vote on Friday, pending a crucial meeting of Russia’s national security council in Moscow. China is also being tougher than expected.

Talk of a political transition has also fueled renewed speculation that Assad might be offered exile as a way out of the impasse, with Arab and western reports suggesting that the United Arab Emirates was one possible option. 

Similar ideas surfaced about Muammar Gaddafi during last year’s Libyan crisis, but came to nothing. 

New language in the latest U.N. draft states categorically that the intention is to resolve the Syrian crisis “without foreign military intervention”, emphasizing the point to assuage Moscow’s concerns about a repeat of what happened in Libya. 

In a further change the resolution is less emphatic about holding Syria to account for implementation, hinting that the anti-Assad camp might also need to comply. 

Another innovation is praise for a Russian offer to host a conference of the Syrian government and opposition. But the main opposition groups say they have no faith in talks after 10 months of bloodshed in which, the U.N. says, 5,400 people have been killed. 

The revised draft also removes a call on U.N. member states to act to prevent the flow of arms into Syria; another clause opposed by Russia, which has maintained the Soviet Union’s policy of being a big arms supplier to the Assad regime. Moscow has repeatedly made clear that it plans to continue delivering weapons. 

Some Syrian opposition figures fear there will arise a U.N. resolution so bland and based on the lowest common denominator that it will be almost worthless, achieving international unity at the price of being stripped of meaningful content. 

Burham Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the main exiled opposition group, has met Russia’s U.N. envoy to make his case. 

Malik al-Abdeh, director of Barada TV, a Syrian opposition channel, said: “The SNC have put all their eggs in the basket of the Arab League so they are going along with what it is doing. They don’t have the leverage to torpedo these efforts even if they are detrimental to their cause.” 

Western governments say they believe that the most desirable outcome in New York is a watered-down U.N. resolution that the Russians do not veto, rather than a more robust one that they block. 

The Syrian Revolution General Commission reported 13 people killed by security forces on Thursday. 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the U.N. to apply greater pressure on Syria. “After 10 months of passivity, during which more than 5,400 people have been killed by Syrian security forces, security council members should have run out of excuses for inaction,” said Philippe Bolopion, U.N. director at HRW. “Any country should be wary of supporting the position of Russia, which is signing lucrative arms deals with the Syrian government while providing it with diplomatic cover.” 

Russia and China, which both have vetoes, are also being supported by India, Pakistan, and South Africa, non-permanent members of the council. 

Source: http://freeinternetpress.com

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The caricature of the euro shows a small and ailing little man — unshaven, bandaged and weak, his eyes peering down at the ground in humility and carrying an old hat in his right hand to collect money. Angela Merkel, who is accompanying this sad creation, looks serious as she knocks on the imperial gate seeking entry — and to plead for a small handout for her problem child. 

The picture created by a caricaturist for China’s English-language Global Times newspaper isn’t a very nice one. But there is a nugget of truth in the exaggerated image. Merkel isn’t exactly going to be begging when she begins her three-day visit to China on Wednesday, but neither will she be opposed to leaving the country with one or more deals bringing multi-billion Chinese investments to the debt-plagued euro zone. 

This is Merkel’s fifth visit to China, with relations intensifying considerably in recent years. This time, however, German government officials have said they are “extremely pleased with the timing” because the trip is taking place just after the most recent European Union crisis summit, where a pact for stricter budget discipline in Europe was agreed, which Merkel touted as a “masterpiece.” The chancellor now wants to explain the pact to the Chinese “first hand,” say officials in Berlin. According to government sources, the chancellor, who also heads the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, wants to report to Beijing on how Europe is moving down the path toward a stability union. “It is important to foster confidence in the euro zone,” said the official.

That confidence should hopefully pay dividends. China is the world’s second largest economy. Even though its economy has been cooling down lately, the country still had a growth rate of 9.2 percent in 2011, a figure Europeans can only dream of. The country also has estimated currency reserves of $3.2 trillion — money that could be used to help the Europeans stabilize their common currency. The German government is also fond of pointing out that a stable euro zone and a strong euro are also very much in the interests of the Chinese — a fact that has been reiterated numerous times by the leadership in Beijing. 

Chinese Investments ‘Expressly Welcome’ 

Accordingly, German government officials have said that the chancellor, in addition to meeting with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, will also talk to financial investors — even though investment banking is not Merkel’s job. A senior government representative stressed in Berlin on Tuesday that “Chinese investments are expressly welcome. They will be sought, used and appreciated” — both in Germany and in the rest of the euro zone. 

In Europe, there are still hopes that the Chinese will invest in the euro rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), in order to leverage its guaranteed amounts and boost its clout in the fight against the debt crisis. So far, the signals from Beijing have been cautious, and a recent promotional tour in China by EFSF CEO Klaus Regling was unsuccessful. Sources in the German government point out that the leverage instruments have only recently been deployed. During her visit, Merkel is sure to take the opportunity to push the issue once again. The German government’s official position has been carefully formulated: “The question of whether and how much the Chinese invest in the EFSF is not relevant at the moment, but it could become relevant.” 

The question is, however, probably very relevant at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which also wants to increase its firepower to deal with the euro crisis. Here, too, China could make a contribution. But lobbying for such support is not Merkel’s job, sources in Berlin have pointed out, arguing that it is a task for IMF head Christine Lagarde. Nevertheless, the chancellor is still likely to raise the issue. 

It’s safe to assume that Merkel will argue in favor of more direct Chinese investment in Germany and lobby for more contracts for German firms in China. Some 800 Chinese companies are already active in Germany, according to German government figures. For her visit to Beijing and Guangzhou, Merkel is being accompanied by a high-ranking 20-person delegation of business leaders, including a number of CEOs of major blue chip companies and representatives of Germany’s famous Mittelstand, the small and medium-sized firms that comprise the country’s economic backbone.  

Awkward Issue Of Human Rights 

At the same time, Merkel’s trip threatens to become overshadowed by unrest in Tibet as well as Beijing’s draconian measures against Chinese civil rights activists. In Tibet, Chinese security forces have allegedly shot several demonstrators in the past week, according to Tibetans in exile. The Chinese authorities have now apparently intensified control and security measures on monasteries and temples in the autonomous region in order to quell further protests. 

Additionally, one day before Merkel’s departure for China, the 58-year-old civil rights activist Zhu Yufu, a veteran of the democracy movement, was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” in a people’s court in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. Three other civil rights activists received long prison sentences in recent weeks after being convicted of subversion. 

Human rights groups are urging the chancellor to speak out on behalf of the persecuted civil rights activists during her visit and also to address the situation in Tibet. Although the German government declined to comment on individual cases ahead of Merkel’s visit, a government official stressed that the chancellor will address the human rights situation in China “in a concrete way.” Despite her interest in China’s billions, the chancellor will not be able to avoid the issue. 

Source: http://freeinternetpress.com

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Munich Regional Courtdismissed Apple’s appeal confirming that Apple’s touchscreen patent was likely to be revoked in short order.

“Samsung has shown that it is more likely than not that the patent will be revoked because of a technology that was already on the market before the intellectual property had been filed for protection,” Judge Andreas Mueller told theMunich Regional Courttoday, February 1.

Apple complained, but courts decided that the design of the 10.1N is completely different and agreed on the selling of Galaxy Tab 10.1N by Samsung inGermany.

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As we are talking about immigration here in particular, let us tell you it is such a field where legal expertise alongside a person who intend toimmigrate to a new country is integral. Immigration is basically a process that involves lots of legal rules and regulations, which is why it becomes very important for one to seek legal help from experts or lawyers.

If you are shortly planning to immigrate, we recommend you to seek the guidance an immigration lawyer or attorney. However, at the initial stage of the planning you may require the help of an immigration consultant the most. A consultant plays the most vital role in shaping the right plan, by offering their expertise in the areas where consultation is unavoidable.

An immigration consultant helps you learn about distinctive opportunities available in different countries and makes you informed about immigration policies of foreign countries, to name a few of his/her responsibilities. This guidance comes across as the most important stage in your journey to an altogether new place. He lets you decide the best possible option (immigration/visa category) to immigrate by making you aware of all the options and even keeping the most viable and practical option in front of you. 

Similar to the role of an immigration consultant, an immigration lawyer also helps you learn the technicality involves in each visa category, thereby assisting you in deciding the right category to migrate. Basically, where there is complicacy in filing a visa application or meeting personal worth threshold for various business categories, the role of an immigration lawyer comes to play.

Whether or not you require the services of an immigration lawyer or attorney entirely depends on you. If you feel you have intricacies in dealing with the immigration process, you must seek legal help.

However, the guidance of an immigration consultant by your side, you may hardly end up in any unwanted situation. This is why one should ensure that he/she has the proper support of animmigration specialist or expert when they take an important decision like immigrating to a new country.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com

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