LITERATI: Write Right | UNi.ae

AGU Releases the handbook: ?A Guide to Technical Writing Skills?

People spend a great deal of time communicating with others; however, not many excel at it. And while language skills ? speaking, listening and reading ? are important in their own right, writing skills have assumed critical importance as the key prerequisite for success ? because of the surging tide of globalization. To compete in the domains of Industry, Services and Business at a global level, people of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are required to perfect the art of using good English.

Meeting the need of students and office goers
While there is a need to hone the writing skills of people in English in the MENA region, not much work has been done to address this issue. In order to bridge this gap, Dr. Abdurahem Mohammed Al Ameen ? President of Al Ghurair University ? released a supportive handbook called ?A Guide to Technical Writing Skills?. The authors of the book are Mr. Shadi Hijazi, Ms. Sunayana Manoj and Ms. Anjum Azeez. The book is a pioneering work to empower the people in this part of the world. Emphasizing the relevance of the book, Mr. Shadi Hijazi, the Lead Author, said, ?Each one of us, whether studying or working, is required to write. A student writes assignments, reports, term papers, etc. Similarly, employees, irrespective of their rank or the functional areas, write memos, feasibility reports, e-mails, letters, etc. While many people are reasonably good at speaking, their writing skills leave much to be desired. And, as a result, they fail to achieve the commanding heights of their careers. Therefore, one should make a deliberate effort to improve the writing skills in order to succeed.?

Grammar: The science of languages
Grammar is the science of a language, and its understanding facilitates successful communication while an absence of it leaves the readers confused. A thorough appreciation of the English grammar is a sine qua non for writing technically correct English, sounding intelligent, and thereby looking professional.
Substantiating this argument, Hijazi stated, ?The book has earmarked about one-fourth of its chapters to an in-depth understanding of different components of grammar. It explains, in detail, the present simple tense, the present continuous tense, past tense, the past perfect tense and present perfect tense. In addition, these chapters present a detailed discussion about the use of Articles, Propositions, Punctuations, Capitalizations, etc., which lays a strong foundation for writing internationally benchmarked English.?

Vocabulary: The soul of writing
A good writer needs to have good vocabulary that is both broad and deep, because a good vocabulary is essential for clarity, power and precision. If one has a large stock of words, he or she can choose the most appropriate ones. The more words one knows, the easier his/her words will flow. However, it does not mean that we should remember by heart the entire dictionary. Elaborating on this point, co-author Anjum Azeez said, ?Today?s dictionaries are bloated with over 500,000 words, but good writers need to harness only a small fraction of this number. We need only about 2,000 words as part of our vocabulary. Knowing simple words, where to place them and how to use them correctly makes us good writers. We favour small and familiar words instead of big or foreign words. Great scholars and writers use simple words.?

Writing skills: Multiple manifestations
Resumes: Referring to the importance of writing resumes, Hijazi stated, ?While studies have shown that a Hiring Manager spends about 20 seconds looking into a resume, the actual fact is that he earmarks as less as 10 seconds on this exercise. Since he receives about 300 to 400 applications for each position, an applicant has minimal chance to be noticed and receive the interview call unless his resume stands out from the crowd. How your resume looks will serve as an employer?s first impression of you; if it looks bad or amateurish, your resume may not get a second glance.? Recommending that one should discover the successful formula of words, sentences, format and finesse to convey effectively his selling points, Hijazi added, ?One should not prepare a single CV for different job openings; instead, he should prepare different CVs for different job avenues, in accordance with their specific requirements??

E-Mails: Writing e-mails and responding to them have become a part of our lives. However, many of us do not attach importance to their content and design. And by rushing through them carelessly, we waste a useful opportunity to promote our business and ourselves. Emphasizing the importance of the content and the style of e-mails, Sunayana Manoj stated, ?One has to keep in mind that once the ?send? is hit, whatever has been written will continue to be there carved in the tablet of stone. One should, therefore, not only familiarize himself/herself with the etiquette involved in writing e-mails [netiquette], but also make a deliberate attempt to keep the content of e-mails concise and clear by keeping it short and simple, largely because the screen is a particularly unfriendly reading medium for most people?s eyes.?

An all-in-one book
The book covers in detail all the documents that are required to be written in the context of a work place, including Memos, Progress Reports, Invitation Letters, Apology Letters, Recommendation Letters, Thank You Notes, Purchase Orders, Complaint Letters, Instruction and User Manuals, Technical Proposals, etc.
Focusing on the utility of the book, Sunayana Manoj affirmed, ?User friendly, it is customized for Middle Eastern needs along with clear cut explanations. Highly recommended for every desk and every office, the book is a treasure house of good examples??

Learning the writing skills: A universal need
Hijazi is of the firm view that people with English as their mother tongue do not have any inherent advantage over their non-English speaking counterparts. He feels that writing good English is an art, which should be learnt by all through consistent and conscious efforts; not only by people with different regional languages as their mother tongue but also by native speakers. ?The people of UAE have been conscious of this universal need and are keenly interested in further diversifying and enriching their competencies in this domain. ?A Guide to Technical Writing Skills? would be of great help to them in achieving this cherished goal,? he added.

-->

joe johnson lamarcus aldridge jeremy renner justin timberlake engaged bluefin tuna jonestown john dillinger

Considering air safety and cheap air tickets | Travel and Leisure

So here?s a question for everyone who pays taxes. Working under the control of the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has the job of overseeing the safety of the skies. This means regulating both the airlines and the air traffic control system that tells the pilots where to fly once they get off the ground. You would always hope the government would spend the money to recruit the experts to get the job done. Except the Office of Special Counsel has just accused the FAA of consistently ignoring the reports of safety violations made by whistleblowers. No matter what you may think of the morality of those employees who go behind the backs of their employers, the Special Counsel has reported a significant number of instances where the FAA refused to act on the reports even though subsequent investigations showed serious safety problems. Further, many of the rule changes intended to respond to proven safety problems have proved unworkable, but there has been no effort made to modify them.

It?s significant that, among all government departments, the FAA has the highest number of whistleblower complaints. This reflects the importance of safety and the outrage of employees when they see no action taken to resolve those issues. So would you forego cheap air tickets. The fact that more needs to be spent on maintaining their fleet of planes by airlines makes this an interesting question.

We need more air traffic controllers and better equipment. The deficit and GOP refusals to increase taxes means the FAA will not get any new money. So should there be a surcharge on tickets? No more cheap air tickets but enough money to make the airplanes safer and to pay for more controllers. That actually sounds like quite a good deal. Everyone should accept the need to pay for increased safety. If the tax payers cannot be asked to pay, then the burden must fall on those who use the service. Those who choose to fly should pay to make their flights safer in the same way that the duty that is currently paid on gas prices helps to cover the costs of improving the roads that we use.

Comments are closed.

lucid 2012 ncaa tournament bracket matterhorn chris harrison girl scouts printable bracket army wives

Large Liz? Tower housing Big Ben to get a new name

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

looper dont trust the b in apartment 23 johnny damon kirk cameron friday the 13th news 10 hillary rosen

Gene mutations cause massive brain asymmetry

ScienceDaily (June 24, 2012) ? Hemimegalencephaly is a rare but dramatic condition in which the brain grows asymmetrically, with one hemisphere becoming massively enlarged. Though frequently diagnosed in children with severe epilepsy, the cause of hemimegalencephaly is unknown and current treatment is radical: surgical removal of some or all of the diseased half of the brain.

In a paper published in the June 24, 2012 online issue of Nature Genetics, a team of doctors and scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, say de novo somatic mutations in a trio of genes that help regulate cell size and proliferation are likely culprits for causing hemimegalencephaly, though perhaps not the only ones.

De novo somatic mutations are genetic changes in non-sex cells that are neither possessed nor transmitted by either parent. The scientists' findings -- a collaboration between Joseph G. Gleeson, MD, professor of neurosciences and pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego; Gary W. Mathern, MD, a neurosurgeon at UC Los Angeles' Mattel Children's Hospital; and colleagues -- suggest it may be possible to design drugs that inhibit or turn down signals from these mutated genes, reducing or even preventing the need for surgery.

Gleeson's lab studied a group of 20 patients with hemimegalencephaly upon whom Mathern had operated, analyzing and comparing DNA sequences from removed brain tissue with DNA from the patients' blood and saliva.

"Mathern had reported a family with identical twins, in which one had hemimegalencephaly and one did not. Since such twins share all inherited DNA, we got to thinking that there may be a new mutation that arose in the diseased brain that causes the condition," said Gleeson. Realizing they shared the same ideas about potential causes, the physicians set out to tackle this question using new exome sequencing technology, which allows sequencing of all of the protein-coding exons of the genome at the same time.

The researchers ultimately identified three gene mutations found only in the diseased brain samples. All three mutated genes had previously been linked to cancers.

"We found mutations in a high percentage of the cells in genes regulating the cellular growth pathways in hemimegalencephaly," said Gleeson. "These same mutations have been found in various solid malignancies, including breast and pancreatic cancer. For reasons we do not yet understand, our patients do not develop cancer, but rather this unusual brain condition. Either there are other mutations required for cancer propagation that are missing in these patients, or neurons are not capable of forming these types of cancers."

The mutations were found in 30 percent of the patients studied, indicating other factors are involved. Nonetheless, the researchers have begun investigating potential treatments that address the known gene mutations, with the clear goal of finding a way to avoid the need for surgery.

"Although counterintuitive, hemimegalencephaly patients are far better off following the functional removal or disconnection of the enlarged hemisphere," said Mathern. "Prior to the surgery, most patients have devastating epilepsy, with hundreds of seizures per day, completely resistant to even our most powerful anti-seizure medications. The surgery disconnects the affected hemisphere from the rest of the brain, causing the seizures to stop. If performed at a young age and with appropriate rehabilitation, most children suffer less language or cognitive delay due to neural plasticity of the remaining hemisphere."

But a less-invasive drug therapy would still be more appealing.

"We know that certain already-approved medications can turn down the signaling pathway used by the mutated genes in hemimegalencephaly," said lead author and former UC San Diego post-doctoral researcher Jeong Ho Lee, now at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. "We would like to know if future patients might benefit from such a treatment. Wouldn't it be wonderful if our results could prevent the need for such radical procedures in these children?"

Co-authors are My Huynh, department of Neurosurgery and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Mattel Children's Hospital, Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA; Jennifer L. Silhavy, Tracy Dixon-Salazar, Andrew Heiberg, Eric Scott, Kiley J. Hill and Adrienne Collazo, Institute for Genomic Medicine, Rady Children's Hospital, UC San Diego and Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Sangwoo Kim and Vineet Bafna, Department of Computer Sciences, Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego; Vincent Furnari and Carsten Russ, Institute for Medical Genetics, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles and Department of Pediatrics, Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA; and Stacey B. Gabriel, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge.

Funding for this research came, in part, from the Daland Fellowship from the American Philosophical Society, the National Institutes of Health (grants R01 NS038992, R01 NS048453, R01 NS052455, R01 NS41537 and P01 HD070494), the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, San Diego Health Sciences, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

pasadena pasadena famu famu martina mcbride terry jones andy reid

Foreclosure Ruling Disappoints | Marshfield Real Estate

Denise Lavoie, Associate Press for The Patriot Ledger, June 23rd, 2012
State Court?s Decision Applies only to Future Homeowner Cases Boston ? The highest court in Massachusetts on Friday clarified protections in state law for homeowners facing foreclosure but said its ruling applies only to future foreclosures, disappointing some advocates who had hoped the closely watched decision would apply more broadly.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled in the case of a Boston woman who sued after Green Tree Servicing LLC sold her house to Federal National Mortgage Association, Fannie Mae, at a foreclosure sale in 2010.
Henrietta Eaton?s lawyer argued that a lender does not have the right to foreclosure unless it holds both the mortgage itself and the promissory note, which creates an obligation to pay the debt.
A lower court ruled the lender could not prove it held the promissory note and declared the foreclosure invalid.
The SJC agreed with Eaton that state law requires both documents before foreclosure.? But the court said its ruling applies only to future foreclosures.
Justice Margot Botsford, who wrote the unanimous opinion, said it seeks to clarify some confusion in the law about the meaning of the term ?mortgagee? and the proper procedures a mortgagee must follow to foreclosure on a property.
?We now construe the term to refer to the person or entity holding the mortgage and also either holding the mortgage note or acting on behalf of the note holder,? Botsford wrote.
?Further, we exercise our discretion to treat the construction announced in this decision as a new interpretation of the relevant statute, only to apply to foreclosures ?. after the date of this decision.?
Samuel Levine, who argued the case before the SJC on Eaton?s behalf while he was still a student at Harvard Law School, called the case ?a win? for Eaton and homeowners who face foreclosure in the future, but said advocates had hope the court would apply the rule retroactively.
?We?re disappointed that the homeowners who have already lost their homes will not have any recourse under this decision,?? Levine said.? ?But we think going forward it will curb the worst practices.?
Georgetown University Law Professor Adam Levitin, who wrote a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Eaton?s position, said the decision makes clear that lenders who do not hold both the mortgage and the promissory note do not have the right to foreclose, an area of state law that until now has been ambiguous.
?It?s not an outright victory.? The court was definitely concerned that if it applied the ruling retroactively, that it would cloud title for a lot of real estate in Massachusetts. They avoided that,? Levitin said.
?However, for people who are currently in foreclosure or worried that foreclosure will happen in the future, this rule matters quite a bit because the mortgage industry was, frankly, sloppy about its paperwork.
?If you lost your house in foreclosure, you?re not getting it back because of this, but overall, it means homeowners have pretty good protections, namely, you can?t be thrown out of your house unless the lender can absolutely prove they have the right to do so.?
Richard Briansky, a Boston attorney who represented Fannie Mae and Green Tree, declined to comment.
?Going forward, today?s ruling will hopefully bring clarity and certainty to the foreclosure process in Massachusetts, which will help the state work through its ongoing housing challenges,? said Andrew Wilson, a spokesman for Fannie Mae.
Wilson said Fannie Mae encourages homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments to seek help as early as possible, including by calling one of its 12 mortgage help centers around the country.
Follow Len and Leslie Marma of Success! Real Estate on their facebook business page, ?Marshfield Matters? ?? click LIKE to receive real estate info and what?s happening in Marshfield.?

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

apple announcement indianapolis colts joseph kony joseph kony higgs boson ipad 3 release date apple store down

UK's Cameron proposes axing youth housing subsidy

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

jacoby ellsbury jacoby ellsbury lionel richie morosini death kenny rogers avatar the last airbender david wright

France fights to avoid euro zone bank contagion

PARIS (Reuters) - Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy - France?

With a gaping public deficit and record level of debt, the euro zone's second largest economy wants to be sure it is not sucked into the bloc's game of debt-crisis dominoes, hence Paris's forceful lobbying for ways to shore up Europe's banks.

France is one of the strongest advocates of a Europe-wide banking union and, with an eye on its own banks' exposure to vulnerable debt in struggling countries, for immediate recapitalization of banks from euro zone rescue funds.

"I think the French are pushing this for a simple reason: They bloody well know they're next in line. They're after Italy," said Nicholas Spiro, head of consultancy Spiro Sovereign Strategy.

The debt crisis has already spread through Greece, Ireland and Portugal, all of which have international bailouts. Spain has asked for help for its banks. Cyprus may seek a broader bailout imminently. Italy has recently seen borrowing costs rise to dangerously high levels.

Eager to stop the snowball, France's new President Francois Hollande quickly championed ideas to fight contagion, some of which have brought him into direct opposition with Germany.

Investors are currently giving France the benefit of the doubt, driving French yields to historic lows as they seek the relative safety of debt issued by a core European country that nonetheless offers richer yields than Germany.

However, France's finances are nothing like as good as Germany's, and its banks have heavy exposure to Greece and Italy - a concern that has conditioned its response to the crisis.

"It's clear that pressure from the debt crisis will come on France and other AAA countries if there is not significant progress in mutualising risks," said Michel Martinez, Societe Generale's chief economist for France.

Spain and Italy's borrowing costs have eased somewhat on expectations that an EU leaders' summit this week will produce bold new approaches to contain the crisis. Short of that, they run the risk of becoming too costly to manage, prompting the need for sovereign bailouts.

Hollande's Socialist government has thrown its support behind the idea of setting up a banking union in Europe, with a central supervisory authority, joint deposit guarantees and a fund to wind down dud banks.

But France is also pushing for more immediate solutions that could shelter banks from the risks associated with the sovereign debt of southern Europe, fully aware that the crisis could deteriorate with lightning speed.

Paris has been a vocal supporter of using the euro zone bailout funds to recapitalize banks directly, although Germany's opposition to the idea remains a major obstacle.

DANGEROUS EXPOSURE?

Ratings agencies have said repeatedly that the prospect of Paris being forced to prop up its banks is a factor weighing against France's rating, which Standard and Poor's have already downgraded in January by one notch from AAA.

Egan-Jones, a smaller ratings agency that has made a name for itself by downgrading more aggressively than bigger rivals, cut France to BBB-plus earlier this month, partly on concerns that the state may need to support French banks.

Moreover, Moody's has downgraded French banks BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole, along with other major international banks, saying it had become unclear to what degree the government was prepared to support its banks.

Apart from France's own financial stress - its gross debt is about 90 percent of gross domestic product and rising - its banks have major exposure to the euro zone's most fragile economies.

Once among the top lenders to Greece, France's banks have quietly retreated from the country. But while they no longer hold large amounts of Greek government bonds, Credit Lyonnais and Societe Generale remain present in Greece through subsidiaries.

BNP Paribas, BPCE, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Dexia, meanwhile, have a combined exposure of 32.5 billion euros to Italian sovereign debt. Moody's noted that BNP was exposed to Italy through its local subsidiary BNL, which has a 71-billion-euro loan book, and 11 billion euros of Italian government debt.

French bank shares and the cost of insuring bank debt have closely tracked swings in Italian government debt spreads, hinting that investors see the banks' fate tied to Italy's struggle to avoid being dragged into the eye of the debt crisis.

Dexia is the most exposed to Italian government debt, with 11.7 billion euros on its books, but even if the debt crisis does not engulf Italy, the deeply troubled municipal lender could be a big drain on French public finances.

The Franco-Belgian group, which has already required two bailouts in three years, is currently being kept afloat with 55 billion euros in guarantees from France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

However, the lender has asked for that amount to be raised to 90 billion euros - close to the 100 billion euros that Spain is seeking from euro zone partners for its entire banking sector.

"France is not out of the woods by a long shot," said Spiro, the consultant.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Will Waterman)

the jerk lake havasu halo 4 jewel san francisco earthquake san francisco earthquake terminator salvation

Leading equestrian official resigns from London 2012

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

andy kaufman masters 2012 tom watson kawasaki disease resurrection masters tickets one direction