Russia Seeks Arrest of Georgian Politician





MOSCOW — Russian authorities issued an arrest warrant for a Georgian politician, Givi Targamadze, on Thursday, charging that he had incited riots in Russia, in particular by helping to organize an anti-government march last May that culminated in a confrontation between protesters and the riot police.




Russian authorities asserted that the large anti-government protests were being orchestrated by foreign powers, but Mr. Targamadze, a longtime lieutenant of President Mikheil Saakashvili, is the first non-Russian to face criminal charges.


Russian television has broadcast what it says is surveillance video showing Mr. Targamadze meeting with a leftist leader, Sergei Udaltsov, and two of his deputies, at one point offering to deliver large sums of money on behalf of a Russian banker now living in exile.


At the time, Mr. Targamadze said no such meeting had taken place and that the footage had been manufactured by the Prosecutorial Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., the successor to the K.G.B.


“It is clear that this was all prepared in the investigative committee and the F.S.B. headquarters,” he told Dozhd, an Internet news site. “It is sold to the media and then very quickly, at lightning speed, the Investigative Committee reacts.”


A spokeswoman for Georgia’s general prosecutor told Interfax on Thursday that Georgia cannot extradite Mr. Targamadze to Russia because it would violate his rights under the country’s Constitution, but that prosecutors could open a criminal case based on Russia’s request.


Russian analysts noted that the Georgian government did not say Mr. Targamadze’s status as a lawmaker gave him immunity from prosecution. Mr. Saakashvili’s party lost a parliamentary election last October to an opposition coalition intent on repairing Tbilisi’s icy relations with Moscow.


Mr. Targamadze could not be reached for comment on Thursday. A spokesman for the United National Movement, the party he belongs to, said he was traveling outside Georgia. Meanwhile, the police in Moscow said they were working to determine who else in Russia may have had contact with Mr. Targamadze.


Foreign interference in Russian politics was a central theme on Thursday when President Vladimir V. Putin met with top officials at the Federal Security Service, congratulating them on “courageous acts to neutralize internal and external enemies.” Mr. Putin reported that 200 foreign intelligence officers had been identified in 2002, and spoke with satisfaction about new measures restricting foreign financing for nonprofit organizations.


“Any direct or indirect interference in our internal affairs — any form of pressure on Russia, its allies and partners — is unacceptable,” he said, according to a transcript.


He urged the F.S.B. to increase pressure on the Internet, which he said was being used to promote extremist ideas.


“To neutralize different types of extremist structures we need to act as resolutely as possible,” he said. “It is necessary to block attempts by radical groups to use information technologies, Internet resources and social networking Web sites for their propaganda,” he said.


He went on to say that Russian civil society was rapidly becoming more engaged and active, but that uncontrolled speech and organizing could pose a risk to the state.


“Citizens’ right to freedom of speech is unshakable and inviolable — however, no one has the right to sow hatred, to stir up society and the country, and put under threat the life, welfare and peace of millions of our citizens.” He offered a similar warning about citizens’ initiatives, saying the rise in activism “obviously will be supported by the state.”


“At the same time, I want to underline — no one has a monopoly on the right to speak in the name of all Russian society, especially structures that are controlled and financed from abroad,” he said.


The head of the F.S.B., Aleksandr Bortnikov, told Mr. Putin that the United States and its allies had increased “geopolitical pressure” on Russia over the past year, noting that “as before, they consider our state as one of their main competitors in the international arena.”


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Employee Facebook privacy bill advances in Colo.






DENVER (AP) — Facebook profiles and other social-media accounts could be off-limits to employers under a bill approved unanimously in a Colorado House committee Tuesday.


The measure, approved 11-0, would bar most employers from requiring access to their workers’ personal accounts. Several states already have such protections, and dozens more are considering them.






The bill would not prohibit companies from looking at Facebook pages or punishing employees for what they post on their personal sites. But it would ban them from requiring current or potential employees to provide passwords for personal accounts.


The measure’s sponsor said private social media accounts should be considered like physical photographs.


“It’s never been acceptable for en employer to ask to see an employee’s personal photos,” said Rep. Angela Williams, D-Denver.


The bill was amended to exempt law enforcement agencies and corrections workers, since those workers’ personal opinions or off-duty actions can affect their use as witnesses in criminal matters.


“They need to know that the people they have working for them are above reproach and have a higher standard,” said Ann Marie Jensen of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police.


Lawmakers rejected a proposal to give all businesses permission to require personal social media access for “legitimate business interests.”


Kim Smiley of the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association suggested businesses should be allowed to require access in some cases. She used examples of an employee threatening violence or bragging about drinking alcohol on the clock.


Lawmakers responded that employers dealt with those problems long before social media networking. Rep. Libby Szabo, R-Arvada, pointed out that employers once used their noses to suss out an employee who drank too much at lunch.


“There was life before Facebook,” Szabo said.


The measure awaits one more committee vote before it’s considered by the full House.


___


House Bill 1046: http://bit.ly/UOffsH


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Jeff Probst Wants an All-Celebrity Season of Survivor






Survivor










02/13/2013 at 03:30 PM EST







Neil Patrick Harris (left) and Jeff Probst


Getty; CBS


Will Neil Patrick Harris soon be scheming his way to a Survivor victory?

It could happen. Host Jeff Probst has spoken to the How I Met Your Mother star about playing the game – and is currently looking for other celebrities who want to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition in hopes of being Sole Survivor on the long-running CBS reality show.

A celebrity season actually isn't that far fetched. Last season, The Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel made the final three. And, in 2001, Kate Hudson and then–husband Chris Robinson showed up for an open audition for Survivor: Australia, before being turned away by producers. (How awesome would that have been?)

But for now, there's Survivor: Caramoan, the show's 26th season, premiering Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET). Ten new players will compete against ten returning players – with early favorites that include Dawn Meehan, a surprisingly tough 42-year-old mother of six from Utah, and Andrea Boehlke, a pretty blonde schemer from Wisconsin.

Catching up with PEOPLE, Jeff Probst reveals what to expect this season – and how a celebrity version would work:

Lisa Whelchel got a lot of buzz last season. Are there any other celebrities you'd like to see play the game?
Mark Burnett and I really want to do a celebrity version. We were just talking about this at a Grammy party last week. Neil Patrick Harris was there, and he told me flat out he wants to play. I challenged him and said "Do you really want to do it, or is this just a fun fantasy that will never happen?" He said, "I want to do it."

So, on the heels of NPH having the guts to say, "I'm in" – I'm putting out the challenge! If you are a celebrity and truly believe you could hack it, it's time to put up. It would be a shortened shoot – maybe 10 days or so – so you can still get back to do your movies and TV shows, and you won't lose so much weight that your agents will panic. But rest assured it will still kick your ass. If we can get a truly great cast together I think CBS would go for it.

Sounds fantastic. But until that happens, there's Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites. What can we expect?
Even for Survivor, this is quite an unpredictable season. Evacuations, an impromptu tribal council, emotional breakdowns and a great finish. Of the 26 seasons we've done, I believe this will rank among the most memorable. I also think a couple of new favorites may be born this season.

You've chosen 10 returning contestants to play again – including some surprising choices. Why them?
When deciding on returning players we first look at their popularity. It doesn't mean they have to be well liked, but they must be memorable for something. Then we look at their "story." Is there an expectation surrounding their return – i.e., did Phillip learn anything from playing with Boston Rob? Will Cochran finally stand up and be heard? Will Brandon be able to control his emotions? Can Malcolm finish what he started? With this group we felt each has a story worth telling.

The fans seem awfully young. (Four of the five female fans are under 25.) Do they even stand a chance?
We have a fairly young group of fans, but they know the game well and many have been itching to play for a long time. The question is, will their adoration of the favorites make them vulnerable to a blindside? Or will their enthusiasm be the energy they need to keep up? Favorites have a major advantage going into day one.

Last season, contestant Sarah Dawson caught you by surprise when she kissed you – twice! Have you hired bodyguards to guard your personal space?
It's funny how many people have asked me if I was offended by the kisses. I wasn't at all. The kiss that happened at tribal council was probably due to the delirium brought on by not eating for so long. The kiss at the live reunion show was a funny button at the end of a great season of Survivor. The best part was looking out in the audience to see my wife Lisa laughing hysterically.

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Clues to why most survived China melamine scandal


WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists wondering why some children and not others survived one of China's worst food safety scandals have uncovered a suspect: germs that live in the gut.


In 2008, at least six babies died and 300,000 became sick after being fed infant formula that had been deliberately and illegally tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. There were some lingering puzzles: How did it cause kidney failure, and why wasn't everyone equally at risk?


A team of researchers from the U.S. and China re-examined those questions in a series of studies in rats. In findings released Wednesday, they reported that certain intestinal bacteria play a crucial role in how the body handles melamine.


The intestines of all mammals teem with different species of bacteria that perform different jobs. To see if one of those activities involves processing melamine, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Shanghai Jiao Tong University gave lab rats antibiotics to kill off some of the germs — and then fed them melamine.


The antibiotic-treated rats excreted twice as much of the melamine as rats that didn't get antibiotics, and they experienced fewer kidney stones and other damage.


A closer look identified why: A particular intestinal germ — named Klebsiella terrigena — was metabolizing melamine to create a more toxic byproduct, the team reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.


Previous studies have estimated that fewer than 1 percent of healthy people harbor that bacteria species. A similar fraction of melamine-exposed children in China got sick, the researchers wrote. But proving that link would require studying stool samples preserved from affected children, they cautioned.


Still, the research is pretty strong, said microbiologist Jack Gilbert of the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, who wasn't involved in the new study.


More importantly, "this paper adds to a growing body of evidence which suggests that microbes in the body play a significant role in our response to toxicity and in our health in general," Gilbert said.


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Wall Street rally stalls, S&P 500 skims November 2007 high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday amid investor caution after the S&P 500 index briefly hit its highest intraday level since November 2007.


The benchmark index got a boost from Comcast Corp , which said it will buy the rest of NBC Universal for $16.7 billion from General Electric Co .


Equities have been strong performers until recently, buoyed largely by healthy growth in corporate earnings, which helped the S&P 500 to rise 6.5 percent so far this year. The Dow industrials are about 1 percent away from an all-time intraday high, reached in October 2007.


Those gains have left the market vulnerable to a pullback as investors are likely to take profit amid a dearth of new catalysts. While analysts see an upward bias in stocks, recent daily moves have been small and trading volumes light with indexes at multi-year highs.


"I was expecting a 12-15 percent return on the S&P for the whole year of 2013, and we have done about half of that in just 5-6 weeks," said Jack De Gan, principal at Harbor Advisory in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.


"We will hit resistance, but the fundamentals and (microeconomic) picture are looking good, so if there is a correction, it's going to be a brief one."


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was down 39.17 points, or 0.28 percent, at 13,979.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 0.80 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,520.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 7.01 points, or 0.22 percent, at 3,193.50.


Investors shrugged off the latest economic data, which showed that retail sales rose just 0.1 percent, as expected, in January as tax increases and higher gasoline prices restrained spending.


The S&P 500 was well above its 50-day moving average of 1,460.92, a sign the market could be overbought.


Comcast agreed late Tuesday to buy General Electric Co's remaining 49 percent stake in NBC Universal for $16.7 billion. Comcast jumped 4.4 percent to $40.70 as the S&P's top percentage gainer while Dow component GE was up 3.3 percent to $23.33.


Deere & Co reported earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year profit outlook. After initially rallying in premarket trading, the stock fell 3 percent to $91.13.


According to the latest Thomson Reuters data, of the 353 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 70.3 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, above a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.


Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.3 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.


Industrial and construction shares fell, though President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address late Tuesday, called for $50 billion in spending to create jobs by rebuilding degraded roads and bridges.


The Dow Jones Home Construction index <.djushb> was off 0.5 percent.


(Editing by Kenneth Barry and Bernadette Baum)



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A Running Start for a U.S.-Europe Trade Pact


BRUSSELS — Embarking on what could be the biggest trade agreement ever in its economic sweep, officials from the United States and the European Union indicated Wednesday that they had already resolved some of the stickiest issues behind closed doors.


But the sheer ambition of the trade negotiations, which aim not only to eliminate import duties but also synchronize regulations governing products like cars, drugs and medical devices, leaves plenty of room for the talks to bog down in the type of parochial concerns that have derailed past efforts at a trans-Atlantic trade pact.


Ron Kirk, the U.S. Trade Representative, said by telephone Wednesday that this time things would be different. Already, he said, preliminary discussions between him and top E.U. officials have made “very good progress” on issues that have stymied trade relations for years, like health and safety standards applied to food. A final agreement is possible before the end of 2014, he said.


But, Mr. Kirk acknowledged, “we’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us.”


President Barack Obama endorsed a trade pact during his State of the Union address Tuesday, answering pleas from European leaders desperate for a way to speed up economic growth. Though Mr. Obama devoted only a single sentence to the topic, it was the green light that proponents of a trade deal had been hoping for.


“And tonight, I’m announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union,” Mr. Obama said, giving the potential pact a name. He added, “Because trade that is fair and free across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs.”


European officials on Wednesday agreed with Mr. Kirk that the timing is favorable for an agreement. And officials in both Brussels and Washington noted that the rising economic might of China gave them further incentive. A broad trade agreement could help ensure that Americans and Europeans, and not the Chinese government, would set standards on product safety or protection of intellectual property in years to come.


“You will now be setting what the rules of the road are for trade that are going to shape the global trading system,” said Karan Bhatia, a former deputy U.S. trade representative who is now vice president for global government affairs at General Electric in Washington.


Unless the United States and Europe are in agreement, in too many future trade cases, “we would be forced to accept Chinese standards,” Karel De Gucht, the trade commissioner who is expected to lead the talks on behalf of Europe, said during an interview. “That’s what it is about.”


José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission — the Union’s administrative arm — said at a news conference here that a trade pact would bolster the economies of the United States and Europe.


“Both of us need growth, and both us also have budgetary difficulties,” Mr. Barroso said. “Trade is the most economic way of promoting growth.”


But Mr. De Gucht, interviewed later, added a note of caution. “The low-hanging fruit doesn’t exist here any more,” he said. “All the easy topics are off the table.”


European leaders, including Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, have been pushing for a trade deal as a low-cost way of stimulating their struggling economies. Mr. Obama’s statement Tuesday will help put to rest complaints by some Europeans that the U.S. president has not paid enough attention to his country’s largest trading partner.


“A deal will create jobs on both sides of the Atlantic and make our countries more prosperous,” Mr. Cameron said in statement. “Breaking down the remaining trade barriers and securing a comprehensive deal will require hard work and bold decisions on both sides.”


Between them, the United States and Europe account for about half of global economic output and one-third of world trade. Trade in goods between the Union and America totaled $646 billion last year, according to U.S. government figures.


According to Mr. Kirk, the trade representative, the Union is the best customer for U.S. exports, buying $459 billion in goods and services and supporting 2.4 million American jobs.


“I don’t know if I would call it the biggest trade agreement in the history of the planet,” Mr. Kirk said, “but it is really a very big deal.”


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Vertu Releases $10,000 Smartphone with Year-Old Software, No 4G






Luxury smartphone company Vertu has just released the Vertu Ti, the price of which is not listed on its website but was reported by Alex Dobie of Android Central to be $ 10,000. It runs a version of the Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich, which is more than a year old, and lacks other typical high-end smartphone features like 4G wireless Internet.


But then, with “Titanium Black Leather” in bold at the top of its feature list — with “size and weight,” “materials,” and “services” right afterwards — it’s pretty clear which “specs” Vertu is hoping its buyers will care about.






Software and specs


Vertu’s website describes “the devices [sic] 1.7 GHz processor” and its “uniquely tailored user interface,” a custom UI layer which superficially resembles Samsung’s Touchwiz and is running on top of Android 4.0. Its processor is dual-core, and its 3.7-inch screen is about as small as the old iPhone’s.


On the other hand, the Vertu Ti does have 64 GB of flash storage, as well as a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear-facing shooter which can record 1080p video.


The key to the kingdom


The Vertu Ti’s most unique feature is the “Vertu Key,” a button on the side of the phone which can be used to call 24/7 concierge service from anywhere in the world — or at least, anywhere in the world where it has a signal. There’s also a text-based live chat option, a Windows-style remote assist feature, and an app which appears to do nothing but display personalized ads (the company calls them “independently sourced articles and privileges”).


Putting the “hard” in hardware


The materials used do have some practical benefits. Vertu’s website claims that the Vertu Ti’s chassis is “around five times stronger than other smart phones [sic].” Meanwhile, a BBC News report said that one Vertu handset survived being run over by a truck, or that it was at least “intact and working” afterwards.


The same report quoted Vertu Head of Design Hutch Hutchison as saying the phone’s sapphire screen can only be scratched by diamond. With its price tag and luxury design however, Vertu is not competing in the same space as Panasonic’s military-grade, ruggedized hardware.


Are the phones worth it?


That’s up to the very few people who societies choose to reward with the disposable income to buy them — people like the bankers at the former Lehman Brothers firm, which is believed to have been instrumental in causing the global financial crisis and the closing of which impacted Vertu’s sales, according to the BBC article.


Roughly 326,000 Vertu phones (of all kinds) have been sold worldwide. China is reportedly Vertu’s biggest market.


Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.


Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Ed Sheeran: Five Things to Know















02/12/2013 at 03:50 PM EST



Elton John doesn't perform with just anyone. So when he took the stage at Sunday night's Grammys with folkie Brit Ed Sheeran to duet on the newcomer's Grammy nominated hit "The A Team," it was a moment to remember.

Here are five things to know about the 21-year-old folk singer, whose debut, +, has sold over two million copies worldwide.

1. He's penned tracks for both Taylor Swift and One Direction
Sheeran cowrote "Everything Has Changed," off of Taylor Swift's latest album Red. "It was fate," he says of how he and Swift, 23, connected. The two musicians, who were fans of each other's work, "just started hanging out," says Sheeran. He also cowrote One Direction's hit "Little Things." Who's his favorite 1D member? Harry Styles, who was his pal prior to the boy band hitting it big.

2. He digs his red hair
"It makes me individual and makes me stand out," he says. "It would be foolish to change it." And he's in good company with fellow musicians like Florence + the Machine also sporting red tresses. "There are more redheads in pop than you think!"

3. He has a big crush on another (occasional) redhead
Though he jokes about wishing he could have taken Eva Longoria as his date to the Grammys, Sheeran says he really holds a candle for actress Emma Stone. "But she's all kinds of taken now so I need to find someone else," he chuckles. Could he find love with pal Swift? "I don't know if I'm her type," he says of the singer, for whom he'll open for on her upcoming Red Tour.

4. He can deliver one heck of a rhyme
Influenced by Eminem, the guitar player swiftly raps "Like everything I say seems to always sound awkward/Like our last kiss it was perfect, we were nervous/On the surface" on his tune "U.N.I." "I was brought up on Bob Dylan and Van Morrison," he says. "Now-a-days I listen to [rapper] Kendrick Lamar."

5. He's a loyal customer
There's one dish he can't wait to sit down and devour whenever he travels back to England. "The Portuguese chicken at a restaurant called Nando's," says Sheeran. "That's the sh--!"

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Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life


The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.


There may be more behind the story of why Pope Benedict XVI decided to leave a job normally held for life. But the pontiff made it about age. He said the job called for "both strength of mind and body" and said his was deteriorating. He spoke of "today's world, subject to so many rapid changes," implying a difficulty keeping up despite his recent debut on Twitter.


"This seemed to me a very brave, courageous decision," especially because older people often don't recognize their own decline, said Dr. Seth Landefeld, an expert on aging and chairman of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.


Age has driven many leaders from jobs that used to be for life — Supreme Court justices, monarchs and other heads of state. As lifetimes expand, the woes of old age are catching up with more in seats of power. Some are choosing to step down rather than suffer long declines and disabilities as the pope's last predecessor did.


Since 1955, only one U.S. Supreme Court justice — Chief Justice William Rehnquist — has died in office. Twenty-one others chose to retire, the most recent being John Paul Stevens, who stepped down in 2010 at age 90.


When Thurgood Marshall stepped down in 1991 at the age of 82, citing health reasons, the Supreme Court justice's answer was blunt: "What's wrong with me? I'm old. I'm getting old and falling apart."


One in 5 U.S. senators is 70 or older, and some have retired rather than seek new terms, such as Hawaii's Daniel Akaka, who left office in January at age 88.


The Netherlands' Queen Beatrix, who just turned 75, recently said she will pass the crown to a son and put the country "in the hands of a new generation."


In Germany, where the pope was born, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is 58, said the pope's decision that he was no longer fit for the job "earns my very highest respect."


"In our time of ever-lengthening life, many people will be able to understand how the pope as well has to deal with the burdens of aging," she told reporters in Berlin.


Experts on aging agreed.


"People's mental capacities in their 80s and 90s aren't what they were in their 40s and 50s. Their short-term memory is often not as good, their ability to think quickly on their feet, to execute decisions is often not as good," Landefeld said. Change is tougher to handle with age, and leaders like popes and presidents face "extraordinary demands that would tax anybody's physical and mental stamina."


Dr. Barbara Messinger-Rapport, geriatrics chief at the Cleveland Clinic, noted that half of people 85 and older in developed countries have some dementia, usually Alzheimer's. Even without such a disease, "it takes longer to make decisions, it takes longer to learn new things," she said.


But that's far from universal, said Dr. Thomas Perls, an expert on aging at Boston University and director of the New England Centenarians Study.


"Usually a man who is entirely healthy in his early 80s has demonstrated his survival prowess" and can live much longer, he said. People of privilege have better odds because they have access to good food and health care, and tend to lead clean lives.


"Even in the 1500s and 1600s there were popes in their 80s. It's remarkable. That would be today's centenarians," Perls said.


Arizona Sen. John McCain turned 71 while running for president in 2007. Had he won, he would have been the oldest person elected to a first term as president. Ronald Reagan was days away from turning 70 when he started his first term as president in 1981; he won re-election in 1984. Vice President Joe Biden just turned 70.


In the U.S. Senate, where seniority is rewarded and revered, South Carolina's Strom Thurmond didn't retire until age 100 in 2002. Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was the longest-serving senator when he died in office at 92 in 2010.


Now the oldest U.S. senator is 89-year-old Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. The oldest congressman is Ralph Hall of Texas who turns 90 in May.


The legendary Alan Greenspan was about to turn 80 when he retired as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2006; he still works as a consultant.


Elsewhere around the world, Cuba's Fidel Castro — one of the world's longest serving heads of state — stepped down in 2006 at age 79 due to an intestinal illness that nearly killed him, handing power to his younger brother Raul. But the island is an example of aged leaders pushing on well into their dotage. Raul Castro now is 81 and his two top lieutenants are also octogenarians. Later this month, he is expected to be named to a new, five-year term as president.


Other leaders who are still working:


—England's Queen Elizabeth, 86.


—Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, king of Saudi Arabia, 88.


—Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, emir of Kuwait, 83.


—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, 79.


__


Associated Press writers Paul Haven in Havana, Cuba; David Rising in Berlin; Seth Borenstein, Mark Sherman and Matt Yancey in Washington, and researcher Judy Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.


___


Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP


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Wall Street edges up, Dow nears all-time high

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged higher on Tuesday, putting the Dow within striking distance of all-time highs as investors looked ahead to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, which is expected to focus on the economy.


Jobs and economic growth are seen as major themes of Obama's speech, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday). Investors will also listen for any clues on a deal with Republicans to avert automatic spending cuts due to take effect March 1, including the tone of the speech.


The S&P 500 has risen for the past six weeks, putting it up 6.7 percent so far this year, while the Dow is about 1 percent away from its all-time intraday record of 14,198.10, reached in October 2007.


But gains have been harder to come by since the benchmark S&P index hit a five-year high on February 1. The market has had to consolidate strong gains at the year's start while investors search for reasons to drive stocks higher.


"We're likely to settle in for a period and digest the gains we've had, though there's still a bias towards positive momentum," said Eric Teal, chief investment officer at First Citizens Bancshares in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Questions over government spending are the big overhang, and we're looking for Obama to inspire some confidence over that tonight."


The White House has signaled Obama will urge investment in infrastructure and clean energy, suggesting companies in those sectors may be volatile in Wednesday's session.


"Gun makers could also see a reaction if Obama talks about anything with respect to gun control," said Teal, who helps oversee $5 billion. Shares of Smith & Wesson were flat at $9.13 while Sturm Ruger was up 0.5 percent at $53.96.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 58.06 points, or 0.42 percent, at 14,029.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 3.34 points, or 0.22 percent, at 1,520.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was down 1.91 points, or 0.06 percent, at 3,190.09.


Housing shares were among the strongest of the day, led by a 14.4 percent jump in Masco Corp to $20.35 after the home improvement product maker said it expects new home construction to show strong growth in 2013. The PHLX housing sector index <.hgx> rose 4.3 percent.


Avon Products Inc surged 23 percent to $21.25 as the S&P 500's top percentage gainer after the cosmetics company reversed sales declines and cut costs.


On the downside, Coca-Cola Co fell 2.7 percent to $37.58 and were the biggest drag on the Dow after reporting revenue that was below estimates, hurt by a weaker-than-expected performance in Europe.


Goodyear Tire & Rubber shares slipped 0.4 percent to $13.86 after it posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit but cut its 2013 forecast due to weakness in the European automotive market.


Michael Kors Holdings shares jumped 10.8 percent to $63.18 after the fashion company handily beat Wall Street's estimates and raised its full-year outlook.


With earnings season starting to wind down, Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning shows of the 353 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 70.3 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, above a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.


Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.3 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.


(Editing by Nick Zieminski)



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