Deutsche Bank CEO drops supervisory board bid (AP)

BERLIN ? A monthlong battle for the future leadership of Deutsche Bank ended Monday with the lender's announcement that CEO Josef Ackermann has withdrawn his candidacy to become chairman of its board of directors.

Instead, that role will be filled by Paul Achleitner, German insurer Allianz SE's chief financial officer, Deutsche Bank AG said.

Next year, Ackermann will be replaced as Deutsche Bank's CEO by co-CEOs Anshu Jain, the Indian-born head of its investment bank division, and Juergen Fitschen, currently Deutsche Bank's head of regional management. That personnel move, announced after months of speculation in July, solves the succession question but has already raised other issues, not least how Jain and Fitschen will divide their responsibilities.

As previously announced, Ackermann, who also chairs the global banking lobby group Institute of International Finance, will step down from that role in May 2012 following the company's shareholder meeting.

At the same time, Allianz SE announced Monday that Achleitner will leave that company's board of management at the end of May 2012.

It was not immediately clear if Ackermann's decision regarding his future at Deutsche Bank had anything to do with an investigation of false testimony regarding him and two other Deutsche Bank officials.

Ackermann, who has led Deutsche Bank AG for nine years, said in a statement Monday that the current situation in the financial markets and the political-regulatory environment require his full attention, thus depriving him of the necessary time to hold talks with shareholders to promote his bid for the leadership of Deutsche Bank.

He praised Achleitner as a financial markets and banking business expert, saying: "His counsel is sought after and appreciated in the corporate world and in politics domestically and internationally."

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, is a strongly interconnected bank and has been designated to be of systemic relevance to the world financial system.

Prosecutors in Munich said Monday that police had searched offices of Deutsche Bank's board of directors, including Ackermann's, as part of the investigation on suspicion of false testimony.

Ackermann, his predecessor Rolf Breuer, and the current chairman of the bank's supervisory board, Clemens Boersig, are suspected of false testimony and trial manipulation, the bank's lawyers said, according to German news agency dapd.

A Deutsche Bank spokesman called the allegations "unfounded" and condemned the prosecutors' move as disproportionate.

Deutsche Bank's leaders are entangled in a bitter legal dispute surrounding the 2002 bankruptcy of late German media tycoon Leo Kirch, which could cost the bank dearly, if the Munich state court were to find that the bank bears some responsibility for triggering the bankruptcy. Kirch's legal team seeks compensation of some euro2 billion ($2.7 billion).

The bank has filed a motion seeking to remove the judges in the Munich trial amid doubts over their independence, dapd reported. It is not known whether the search and the new investigation in that case had any influence over the leadership shake-up at Deutsche Bank.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111114/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_germany_deutsche_bank

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Intel's gettin' kinda heavy, it's got the power, gonna break your heart

Intel spent most of yesterday standing in the bar at the SC11 conference showing off the size of its computing prowess. Admittedly, it's on a roll; the Xeon E5 processor powers ten of the Top 500 supercomputers in the world, and Intel chips as a whole are found inside 85 percent of all the machines on the list -- not to mention the E5's newly minted PCI Express 3.0 compatibility. The Santa Clara chip maker is also building a new Exascale lab at the Barcelona Computing Center, a ten petaflop "Stampede" machine at the Texas Advanced Computing center and several other machines for Government agencies like NASA. The Seattle shindig was a great excuse for Intel's Rajeeb Hazra to show off the new Knights Corner co-processor, built with a new Tri-Gate 3D 22nm process that packs 50 cores into one strip of silicon. In fact, the only thing Intel wasn't bragging about was being bested by the record breaking Fujitsu K, the mere mention of which caused everyone to go a little bit too quiet and begin to glower (we assume).

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Genius SP-HF2020 Digital 4-Way Hi-Fi Speakers

Sometimes Genius surprises us with an affordable, relatively high quality pair of headphones, as in 2009 with the GHP-04NC ($49.99, 3.5 stars). Other times, the company doesn't quite succeed at audio greatness. The design team behind Genius products seems to have a strong vision; there's no denying the SP-HF2020 4-Way Hi-Fi Speakers ($129.99 list) look very cool, like retro bookshelf speakers, but intended for your computer or television. This 2-channel speaker set is more or less priced to compete with some pretty strong systems, like the Editors' Choice Harman Kardon SoundSticks III ($169.95, 4.5 stars). The problem is: They just don't. At high volumes you'll hear distortion on deep bass tracks, at moderate volumes audio can sound tinny, and the EQ settings simply don't sound good at all. It's a shame, because there's no denying the cool look of the SP-HF2020.

Design
Measuring 16.1 by 4.5 by 5.7 inches, the SP-HF2020 speakers don't demand much more real estate on your desktop than a typical pair of computer speakers?they just happen to be twice as tall. The black matte plastic contour is not terribly alluring up close, but from a distance, all you notice is the array of three midrange drivers and a tweeter, which are situated vertically in a glossy black plastic front panel on each speaker. This pair looks like a high-end speaker set.

The lower front face of the right speaker houses a large volume knob that is quite precise?great news if you really want to fine tune the volume level, but not so great if you need to quickly turn the volume up or down. A near-full turn of the knob doesn't adjust the level of volume you'd think it would. The peculiarly labeled EQ button to the right of the knob switches between three audio modes: WideSound, DeepBass, and AudioAlign. LED indicators for these modes are positioned to the left of the knob. A button labeled Digital also sits to the right of the knob?this switches to whatever is connected to the coaxial input. However, there is no button to switch between the two analog input offerings, which doesn't make much sense. The Power switch is on the back panel, along with the speaker connectors: A 3.5mm jack for computers or aux sources, stereo RCA connection (an RCA to 3.5 mm cable ships with the system), and a digital coaxial connection intended for televisions or stereo systems. For this to be a more viable home theater option, an optical connection would have been nice, but buying your own regular RCA-to-RCA cable and keeping things in the analog realm is another option.

The systems ships with a small black membrane remote control that feels flimsy. The controls on the remote include Mute, Standby (Sleep Mode), Source, EQ, and Volume Up and Down. In this price range, a top-notch remote is a rare thing, and at least this one has a Mute button, which is useful given the difficulty involved with changing the volume level quickly. The previously mentioned audio cable, along with a speaker-to-speaker connection cable and the power adapter, are also included in the box.

Performance
Discussing the sonic nuances of a system that varies from so-so to pretty bad seems like a tedious endeavor, so let's make this brief. The SP-HF2020 cannot handle deep bass at high volumes nor, sometimes, even moderate volumes. The deep bass of the Knife's "Silent Shout," our low-end test track, distorts regardless of whether the EQ modes are off or any of the three is selected. Classical compositions, like John Adams'?"The Chairman Dances," sound tinny at best when the volume level is moderate. If you turn tracks like this one up loud, you will experience the speakers at their best?when there's no deep bass to challenge the drivers, the system offers a smooth bass response that is pleasing at high volumes. Almost any modern pop, rock, or hip-hop mixes, though,? will not work at high volumes because of the deep bass, so this is a pretty limited sweet spot.

The EQ settings are unnecessary. WideSound is supposed to widen the stereo field, and whatever algorithm is at work clearly does something, but why? The supplied speaker cables are already long enough to get reasonably wide stereo separation?the very thing this effect is meant emulate. On speakers that can't be separated, an effect like this makes a little more sense, but here, it's superfluous, and it also happens to really mess with the mix. If things are panned primarily to the left or right, they jump out in ways they shouldn't. DeepBass does indeed increase the low frequency response, but in a muddy, unbalanced way that does not benefit the overall sound. AudioAlign is supposed to change the projection of the drivers if they are placed too low in a room, like on a low-lying television stand, so that they meet your ears more precisely. I didn't really feel that this was actually the case, but again, the effect definitely does something to the audio; it's just not necessarily a pleasant change. The best listening mode for these speakers is, without a doubt, with no EQ settings engaged at all.

For $130, you should expect a lot more from a set of speakers. While the $170 SoundSticks III have a higher list price they're still your best bet below $200. If you can afford to spend a little more, things start to sound a lot better round that price point, like the excellent Editors' Choice Antec Soundscience Rockus 3D 2.1 Speaker System ($199.99, 4.5 stars). Another great option in this higher range is the Cambridge SoundWorks MicroWorks II ($249.99, 4 stars)?both systems offer a very capable subwoofer and clarity that the Genius system can't match. There's no subwoofer here, but that's not what's holding this system back. Overall, the Genius SP-HF2020 is a good design piece with disappointing performance. Spring for the SoundsSticks III if you can.

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??? Genius SP-HF2020 Digital 4-Way Hi-Fi Speakers
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Pressure mounts on Syrian leader amid crackdown (AP)

BEIRUT ? Jordan's king said Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad should step down for the good of his country, the first Arab leader to publicly make such a call as Syria's neighbors close ranks against an increasingly isolated regime.

Syria's crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising has brought international condemnation, but Damascus generally has been spared broad reproach in the Arab world. That changed Saturday, with a near-unanimous vote by the 22-member Arab League to suspend Syria.

Assad has tried to blunt the most serious threat to his family's 40-year dynasty by promising reform while also using the military to crack down on protests that refuse to abate despite 3,500 dead ? including at least 12 reported killed on Monday.

He still has a firm grip on power, in part because the opposition remains fragmented and he retains the support of the business classes and minority groups who feel vulnerable in an overwhelmingly Sunni nation. The 46-year-old leader can ride out sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe ? at least in the near term ? as long as he has the support of key allies Russia, China and Iran.

As the uprising wears on, the regime could wobble. Sanctions are chipping away at the ailing economy, and a financial collapse might persuade the middle classes to abandon their allegiance to Assad.

The call by Jordan's King Abdullah II for Assad to leave was the latest blow.

"If Bashar (Assad) has the interest of his country, he would step down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life," Abdullah told the BBC in an interview.

"If I was in his position, I would ? if it was me ? I would step down and make sure whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo that we're seeing," he said.

Damascus had no immediate public comment.

After the interview aired, a top Jordanian government official said the king didn't directly call on Assad to step down, noting the monarch was responding to a reporter's question about what he would do if he were in Assad's place. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to comment publicly on the king's statements.

Still, the king's comments were the strongest yet by an Arab leader.

Jordan's relations with Syria have been bumpy since the early 1970s, when Syria tried to intervene on behalf of Palestinian guerrillas in Jordan. In 1994, relations further deteriorated after Jordan signed a historic peace treaty with Israel, Syria's arch enemy. Damascus accused Jordan of breaking with Arab ranks and betraying the Palestinian cause.

Earlier Monday, Syria struck back at its international critics, branding an Arab League decision to suspend its membership as "shameful and malicious" and accusing other Arabs of conspiring with the West to undermine the regime.

The sharp rebuke suggests Damascus fears the United States and its allies might use the rare Arab consensus to press for tougher sanctions at the United Nations as the unrest appears poised to escalate.

"We wanted the role of the Arab League to be a supporting role but if the Arabs wanted to be conspirators, this is their business," Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told a televised news conference in Damascus.

The unified Arab position also puts more pressure on the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions, despite objections by Russia and China. Of the Arab League's 22 members, only Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against the suspension, with Iraq abstaining.

A similar Arab League decision to suspend Libya earlier this year paved the way for the U.N.-mandated no-fly zone and NATO airstrikes that eventually brought down Moammar Gadhafi.

Although the Arab League and NATO have stressed such intervention was not on the agenda in Syria, al-Moallem played on fears that Assad's ouster would spread chaos around the Middle East.

"They know that our valiant army has capabilities that they might not be able to tolerate if they are used," he said.

Hours after the Arab League vote, pro-regime demonstrators in Syria attacked the diplomatic offices of countries critical of the Syrian government, breaking into the Saudi and Qatari embassies and assaulting Turkish and French diplomatic posts across the country.

Al-Moallem apologized Monday for the attacks.

"As foreign minister I apologize for this and I hope from our people that this will not be repeated. .. I apologize for what happened," he said.

Assad says extremists pushing a foreign agenda to destabilize Syria are behind the unrest, not true reform-seekers aiming to open the country's autocratic political system.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States would continue to consult with the Arab League, the European Union and its other partners "in trying to increase the pressure on Assad."

European Union foreign ministers decided Monday to impose additional sanctions on 18 Syrians "responsible or associated with the repression and supporting or benefiting from the regime." The names will be released in coming days.

Sanctions generally include visa and travel bans on people and the freezing of assets.

The EU had already placed sanctions on 56 Syrians and 19 organizations in its effort to get Assad to halt the crackdown and has banned the import into the EU of Syrian crude oil.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, indicated that Assad still has the support of Moscow.

"When these people hear tough statements from Washington and Brussels saying no dialogue should be held with (Assad) and he should resign, of course, this does not move to a constructive talks," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Regime change in Syria could have a profound effect on regional politics.

Damascus has a web of allegiances that extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. And although Syria sees Israel as the enemy, the countries have held up a fragile truce for years.

Syria's current regime is dominated by the Assad family's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam that represents a tiny fraction of the population. If a government led by the Sunni majority were to take over, it could shake up entrenched regional alliances.

Iraq's foreign minister said Monday that Baghdad had to take into account "international and regional calculations" when it abstained from the Arab League vote.

Iraq was the only country to abstain.

Iraqi officials fear that any possible change in Syria could bring on a Sunni-led regime backed by Saudi Arabia, which already has tense relations with Iraq. Such a move would create more problems for the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.

Syria has asked the Arab League to convene an emergency summit to discuss the country's spiraling political unrest, but critics say that is just another bid by Assad to buy time as he faces snowballing punitive action.

An Arab League official in Cairo said the call for a summit would be discussed by Arab foreign ministers at a meeting in Rabat, Morocco, on Wednesday.

In Washington, Toner said such a summit "looks like another attempt to buy yet more time."

"We've seen this consistent pattern in Syria's reactions to efforts, whether they were Turkey's efforts to resolve and end the violence and then the Arab League's initial offer, that they continue to seek delay tactics," he said.

As diplomats discuss their next moves, the situation on the ground is as bloody as ever, with up to 12 people killed Monday.

The Local Coordination Committees, an activist coalition, said 10 people were killed in the central province of Homs, one in the southern village of Inkhil and one in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes south of Damascus between troops and gunmen believed to be army defectors.

___

Associated Press writers Sylvia Hui in London, Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad, Don Melvin in Brussels, Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Matt Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Catholic Charities ends Ill. civil unions dispute (AP)

CHICAGO ? Catholic Charities announced Monday that it was ending its legal battle over Illinois' civil unions law and no longer is providing state-funded services.

The move ends the group's long history in Illinois of providing foster care and adoptions. Catholic Charities held foster care contracts with the state of Illinois for about four decades.

The group had wished to continue its state contracts, while also referring unmarried couples who want to be adoptive or foster parents to other agencies, citing principles of religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

The state of Illinois had said that longstanding practice is discriminatory, a violation of the new law, which allows unmarried couples ? gay or straight ? to legally enter into civil unions.

In a joint statement Monday, diocese officials in Joliet, Springfield and Belleville said the decision was reached "with great reluctance." The Catholic Diocese of Peoria withdrew from the litigation last month.

It became financially impossible for the remaining Roman Catholic agencies to continue and the courts had refused to grant a stay in the case, the officials said.

"Since we now need to close offices and terminate employees, further appeals would be moot," said the statement from the three dioceses.

Officials with the Thomas Moore Society, which represented Illinois Catholic Charities in the litigation, said the state was already canceling its contracts and moving services to other agencies.

Gay rights advocates called the decision a step forward.

"Finding a loving home for the thousands of children in the foster/adoption system should be the priority, not trying to exclude people based on religious dogma," said Anthony Martinez of The Civil Rights Agenda, an Illinois gay rights group. "Dropping this suit is a step in the right direction for what is best for all the citizens of this great state."

The four dioceses ? Peoria, Joliet, Springfield, and Bellville ? represented up to 2,200 foster care and adoption cases.

Illinois ended contracts in July with Catholic Charities in all four dioceses because of the group's practice of referring unmarried couples to other agencies. A Sangamon County judge sided with Illinois and said the state could begin canceling contracts worth more than $30 million.

But Catholic officials appealed, saying the group shouldn't be forced to place children in unmarried couples' homes.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111115/ap_on_re_us/us_catholic_adoptions_gays

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How One Company Saved Thousands of Dogs Using Social Media (Mashable)

Frank Barry, professional services manager at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank, helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media and fundraising so they can focus on making an impact and achieving their missions. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa.

[More from Mashable: 10 Classy Covers for Your iPad [PICS]]

Social media is all the rage, but does it actually help create real change in the world? The folks at Best Friends Animal Society would answer with a resounding yes!

Best Friends has introduced the Invisible Dog Campaign, a nod to the invisible dog leash from the ?70s and ?80s. "Invisible dogs" refer to the forgotten pets found in city shelters that face tremendous odds to get adopted. ?[We?re] turning that into a real message about adopting dogs unseen in the nation's shelters," explains Claudia Perrone, marketing manager for Best Friends.

[More from Mashable: 10 Cozy Headphones for Cold Weather [PICS]]

Best Friends provides a valuable example of social media mobilizing people to take action in the real world.


1. Beginner: Hashtags


Use them -- constantly. Twitter hashtags are an extremely effective (and free) way to consolidate topics and information that relate to your campaign. The Invisible Dog campaign uses #InvisibleDog in every tweet, every mention, every IRL adoption event and on the home page of its microsite to spread the word and let people track the whole conversation around the campaign.

2. Intermediate: Drive Action


The Invisible Dogs campaign asks people to take action by pledging online. Without pushing people to make an immediate commitment to adopt a shelter dog, the campaign urges people to pledge any action (adoption, dog walking, etc.) that helps invisible dogs. So far 1,758 people have made the pledge.

3. Advanced: User-Generated Content and Events


Letting people run with your message or events is scary, but it can be worth the effort. Best Friends hosts a DogWall where people share adoption photos, videos, text stories, tweets and Facebook messages. People can text photos to the wall instead of logging in to upload.

Best Friends is also using Meetup.com?s Everywhere capability to let people create their own events all over the country. People sign in with their Facebook accounts to join or to create a local Invisible Dog walk or "pup crawl.?


What's Next?


Most interesting, Best Friends gathers user-generated content to identify dogs that need help. It?s also planning to work with FourSquare on National Shelter Check-In Day this Nov. 12.

The content, conversation and online social-sharing activity generated by this digital movement will help Best Friends save thousands of dogs by 2012.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111113/tc_mashable/how_one_company_saved_thousands_of_dogs_using_social_media

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Video: Crossing the Line, Part 5

Dateline NBC

'Dateline NBC,' the signature broadcast for NBC News in primetime, premiered in 1992. Since then, it has been pioneering a new approach to primetime news programming. The multi-night franchise, supplemented by frequent specials, allows NBC to consistently and comprehensively present the highest-quality reporting, investigative features, breaking news coverage and newsmaker profiles.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/45248253#45248253

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