Russian protest leader freed after month in jail (AP)

MOSCOW ? Protest leader Sergei Udaltsov, whose jailing became a rallying point for the Russian opposition, was freed Wednesday after a month in custody. A crowd of about 100 supporters cheered as he stepped out onto a dark and snowy Moscow street.

The 34-year-old leftist has been detained at least a dozen times in the past year after leading anti-Kremlin street protests, but he only recently has seemed to earn the attention and respect of Russia's main opposition leaders.

His jailing fed the anger during mass demonstrations in Moscow in December, and his release could help the opposition build momentum in the month remaining before the next big protest scheduled for Feb. 4.

Udaltsov urged his supporters to keep up the fight against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's hold on power and to work for a democratic Russia.

"I'm calling on all of you not to ease up," Udaltsov said. "We will prepare new actions of civic peaceful protest. Without question we will go out on Feb. 4 and there will be other events."

He was arrested on Dec. 4, the day Russia held a parliamentary election during which observers said the vote was manipulated to allow Putin's party to retain its majority. Udaltsov was then kept in jail on charges related to a protest he led in October against the exclusion of opposition parties from the ballot. He spent much of his time in custody in a hospital after a hunger strike threatened his health.

During Putin's 12-year tenure as president and prime minister, opposition leaders have been marginalized and their protests routinely broken up by police. They are now capitalizing on public outrage over the election and a general weariness with Putin and the corruption his leadership has fostered.

The protests are posing the first serious challenge to Putin, who intends to return to the presidency in an election in March.

Udaltsov's supporters sent him off with shouts of "Russia without Putin," a popular chant at opposition rallies.

"It's a good slogan, but I would like to clarify that the problem is not just Putin," Udaltsov said. "It's the whole system that is rotten."

Udaltsov, a lawyer, has been a political activist since the late 1990s when he was allied with hardline communists. His great-grandfather was a prominent Bolshevik.

___

Andrey Bulay contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120104/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_opposition

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India lets foreign individuals invest in stock (Reuters)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) ? India will allow individual foreign investors direct access to its stock market from January 15, the government said on Sunday, the latest step to liberalize Asia's third-largest economy after a year of big losses on the benchmark Sensex (.BSESN) index.

Previously, foreign nationals were limited to investing in India's equity market through indirect routes such as mutual funds, or through institutional vehicles. [ID:nL3E7J90YK]

"The central government has decided to allow qualified foreign investors to directly invest in (the) Indian equity market in order to widen the class of investors, attract more foreign funds, and reduce market volatility," the government said in a statement.

Analysts said the decision to allow foreign nationals to invest in Indian equities was a positive move but it was unlikely to result in an increased flow of overseas funds in the near-term due to weak market conditions.

"At a time when the foreign institutions are reducing their exposure to India, it would not be prudent to expect foreign individuals to start investing in our markets," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, research head at brokerage SMC Global Securities.

"We can see some impact of this decision when the stock market conditions improve," he said.

In the past 20 years India has gradually opened its economy to foreign cash. The economy is now faltering after growing at an annual average of about 8 percent for several years.

The rupee shed 24 percent of its value against the dollar last year and the current account deficit is widening.

Many economists predict growth below seven percent for the fiscal year that ends on March 30.

Indian shares posted their first annual fall in three years in 2011 as a combination of near double-digit inflation, high interest rates, slowing domestic growth and policy inaction turned off investors already shaken by global headwinds.

Foreign fund inflows, a major driver of Indian stocks, dried up with net outflows of about $380 million as of Wednesday, a far cry from record inflows of more than $29 billion in 2010 that had powered a 17 percent rise in the benchmark index, following an 81 percent surge in 2009.

(Reporting By Frank Jack Daniel; additional reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in MUMBAI; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120102/bs_nm/us_india_investment

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George W. Bush barely mentioned in GOP campaign (AP)

PERRY, Iowa ? A funny thing happened recently in the presidential campaign in Iowa: The last Republican president's name actually surfaced.

"We've had, in the past, a couple of presidents from Texas that said they weren't interested in wars ... like George W. Bush," a voter said to Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who has been sharply critical of U.S. military entanglements overseas. "My question is: How can we trust another Texan?"

It was an odd, almost discordant moment in a GOP contest where Bush, a two-term president who left office just three years ago, has gone all but unmentioned. While the candidates routinely lionize Ronald Reagan and blame President Barack Obama for the nation's economic woes, none has been eager to embrace the Bush legacy of gaping budget deficits, two wars and record low approval ratings ? or blame him for the country's troubles either.

"Republicans talk a lot about losing their way during the last decade, and when they do they're talking about the Bush years," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont-McKenna College. "For Republicans, the Bush administration has become the `yadda yadda yadda' period of American history."

The eight-year Bush presidency has merited no more than a fleeting reference in televised debates and interviews. When it does surface it's often a point of criticism, as when former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told CNN on Sunday that he regretted voting for the No Child Left Behind education law Bush championed.

The former president himself has been all but invisible since leaving office in 2009 with a Gallup approval rating of just 34 percent. His predecessor, Democrat Bill Clinton, had a 66 percent approval rating in early 2001 when he stepped down after two terms marred by a sex scandal and impeachment.

In a presidential contest dominated by concerns over the weak economy, government spending and the $15 trillion federal debt, the Republican candidates have been loath to acknowledge the extent to which Bush administration policies contributed to those problems. Republicans also controlled Congress for six of the eight years Bush was in the White House, clearing the way for many of his policies to be enacted.

There is no question that Obama's policies, including the federal stimulus program and the auto industry bailout, have swollen the deficit and deepened the debt. And three years into his presidency, Obama often falls back on complaints about the bad situation he inherited when seeking to defend his own economic performance.

But while Obama may be overly eager to blame the Bush years for the nation's problems, GOP presidential contenders seem just as eager to pretend those years never happened.

Taking office in 2001 with a balanced federal budget and a surplus, Bush quickly pushed through sweeping tax cuts that were not offset by spending cuts. The tax cuts have cost about $1.8 trillion, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The Bush tax cuts were set to expire after 10 years, but Obama allowed them to remain in place temporarily in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits and a payroll tax cut.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks never were budgeted and have cost taxpayers about $1.4 trillion so far. Obama ordered the last troops out of Iraq in December, but the Afghanistan conflict will extend into 2014.

Bush signed legislation in 2003 enacting a prescription drug benefit as part of Medicare, the government health care plan for seniors ? a huge entitlement program projected to cost as much as $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program, the bank bailout program widely loathed by many conservatives, was another Bush-era program. Congress authorized nearly $700 billion for the program at the recommendation of Bush's treasury secretary, former Goldman Sachs executive Henry Paulson, in response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent financial crisis in the fall of 2008. As a presidential candidate, Obama supported the TARP bailout, as did his GOP rival, Sen. John McCain.

To be sure, today's GOP candidates occasionally acknowledge that not all was perfect pre-Obama.

"The reason we find ourselves in the problem today is because we had Republicans and Democrats ? you couldn't tell the difference in the way they were spending," Rick Perry told a campaign audience in Cedar Rapids.

The Texas governor has been sharply critical of Congress, insisting he would bring an outsider's perspective to tackling the nation's economic woes as president.

Others have also tried to distance themselves from Washington and, by implication, the Bush years.

Mitt Romney stresses his experience as a businessman and as Massachusetts governor. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman talks up his background as a chief executive. Newt Gingrich reminds voters that he presided over a balanced budget as speaker of the House during the Clinton years.

Santorum's surge into top-tier contention has sparked complaints from rivals about his votes on spending. Among other things, he voted in favor of the Medicare prescription drug program.

Bush still has loyal supporters who believe his legacy will be vindicated by history. But even they say the GOP field won't be embracing him anytime soon.

"Sad to say, they're looking at polling data that indicates they're better off not bringing him into the campaign," former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer said. "I think President Bush has made America a safer nation and better nation and I'm proud of it. But politics isn't about what's fair, it's about winning."

___

Associated Press writer Philip Elliott in Cedar Rapids contributed to this report.

___

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bfouhy

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120103/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaign_where_s_bush

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Romney in position of strength in Iowa

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, greets some of the kitchen help during a campaign stop at Old Salt Restaurant in Hampton, N.H., Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, greets some of the kitchen help during a campaign stop at Old Salt Restaurant in Hampton, N.H., Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

With his campaign bus parked outside, residents listen as Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, speaks at Tish's Restaurant in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney prepares to sign a newspaper with the headline "Obama's History!" during a campaign stop at Old Salt Restaurant in Hampton, N.H., Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) ? Mitt Romney is the clear Republican front-runner in Iowa in the final days before the first voting in the 2012 presidential election. But that's where the clarity ends in this unpredictable nomination race.

Five others are fighting, as they have all year, to emerge as the Romney alternative.

The ascendant Rick Santorum and Rick Perry are battling to win over social conservatives. Libertarian-leaning Ron Paul is working to preserve support that's starting to slip. Newt Gingrich is struggling to end his sharp slide. Michele Bachmann is hardly a factor.

"It may be Romney's to lose at this point," said John Stineman, an Iowa GOP campaign strategist. "And it's a battle among the rest."

While much can happen before Tuesday's caucuses, public surveys and internal polls as well as interviews with Republican activists, Iowa voters and political operatives both inside and outside the candidates' campaigns suggest that Romney is in strong contention to win Tuesday's caucuses.

Paul, who surged this month, has faded some following attacks on his foreign policy positions. Santorum and Perry are climbing, but evangelical Republicans and cultural conservatives continue to divide their support among the field ? giving Romney an opening. And a large contingent of voters hasn't yet locked in on a candidate as the clock winds down.

Despite rapidly shifting dynamics, two things were clear on the final weekend before the caucuses: The yearlong effort to establish a consensus challenger to Romney had failed, and Romney's carefully laid plan to survive Iowa was succeeding. It relies on conservative voters failing to rally behind one candidate.

He was either slightly ahead or in a virtual tie with Paul in NBC/Marist and CNN/Time polls, with Santorum running third. A new poll by The Des Moines Register, which has endorsed Romney, late Saturday showed Romney and Paul statistically even at the front of the pack. Romney had 24 percent while Paul had 22 percent. Santorum was third with 15 percent of likely voters backing him.

Gingrich had 12 percent support and Perry had 11 percent. Bachmann trailed with 7 percent.

But the poll showed Santorum ascendant and Paul falling. During the last two days of the poll, taken Dec. 27-30, Santorum drew 21 percent while Paul had fallen back to 18. The survey showed that 41 percent of likely caucusgoers say they still might change their minds.

With the stakes high, the candidates pressed their closing messages Saturday and released final TV ads while volunteers and staffers canvassed the state to both persuade undecided and mobilize backers.

Notably absent was Paul, the Texas congressman who returned to his home state late Friday. He had no campaign events in Iowa until Monday; his campaign said he was spending the holiday weekend with his family. Paul, however, is appearing on several Sunday morning news programs.

By Saturday afternoon, an upbeat Romney had returned to Iowa from a brief trip to New Hampshire. In Le Mars, he drew a crowd of 300 people, including supporter Alan Lucken, who shouted to the candidate: "You're going to win."

"I'm planning on it," Romney said and later told a reporter, "I sure hope to. I'll tell you that."

In another show of confidence, Romney promised to return to Iowa, a perennial general election battleground, if he is the nominee.

"I'm going to be back in Iowa; we're going to fight, we're going to win Iowa in the general election," Romney said as he closed his remarks in Le Mars.

He spent the afternoon in conservative Plymouth County and more populous Woodbury County, both winning areas for him during the 2008 race. He finished second in the state that year behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, although Arizona Sen. John McCain later captured the party's nomination.

At one point, he promised to veto the DREAM Act, which would provide conditional permanent residency for some illegal immigrants. While Romney has faced criticism for changing stance on some social issues, he has held to a strict position on illegal immigration during his 2012 campaign.

Romney planned to campaign Monday in cities he won four years ago ? Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Dubuque. He wants to maximize the edge he holds in critical areas rather than risk underperforming in places where more ardent conservatives are leery of his Mormon faith and shifting positions on social issues.

Santorum, meanwhile, looked to capitalize on his recent surge in polls by focusing on southern portions of rural Iowa, where the former Pennsylvania senator has made a point of visiting more often than his rivals. And he rolled out a new TV ad casting him as "a trusted conservative who gives us the best chance to take back America."

He claimed momentum Saturday ? and acknowledged his opponents had more money ? as he traveled with his daughter Liz, who quit college to campaign for her father.

"We believe that ultimately, money doesn't matter in Iowa," Santorum said at a packed stop in Indianola. "You can't buy Iowa. You've got to go out and work for Iowa votes."

Perry's advisers see Santorum within reach and have begun attacking the former senator for having supported spending on home-state pet projects, an unpopular position in these tough economic times.

"I think the world of Rick Santorum. He's got a great family. But we've got some real difference when it comes to fiscal issues," Perry told supporters in Boone. "Those differences couldn't be clearer when it comes to important issues in this election like spending."

Santorum, in turn, charged Perry with hypocrisy: "He had a paid lobbyist in Washington looking for earmarks."

Perry has seen his fortunes improve some in recent days in part because he and his allies have advertised the most aggressively. Of the more than $3 million in television ads he has spent, the final round included spots promoting him as a Washington outsider, and Santorum, Bachmann, Gingrich and Paul as insiders.

Perry announced he would travel directly from Iowa to Greenville, S.C., the day after the caucuses, bypassing next-up New Hampshire. Still, he said he planned to participate in two debates in New Hampshire next weekend.

Gingrich, for his part, was spending the weekend pleading anew with Iowans to side with him despite what they have learned about him through millions of dollars in attack advertising by Paul and a political action committee bankrolled by Romney supporters.

"Iowa could actually dramatically change people's understanding of what works in politics if you repudiate that kind of negativity," Gingrich told 150 people at a Council Bluffs restaurant Saturday.

Illustrating the split among social conservatives, Des Moines-area talk radio conservatives Simon Conway and Steve Deace made competing endorsements Friday ? Conway for Perry, Deace for Gingrich.

Bachmann, who had fallen since last summer to single digits in Iowa polls, spent the day at her Des Moines-area state campaign headquarters rallying supporters and volunteers. Ten protesters connected to the nationwide Occupy movement were arrested outside the office in a suburban strip mall. Bachmann did not come outside of the building.

___

Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Campton, N.H., Steve People in Hampton, N.H., and Shannon McCaffrey in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Brian Bakst in Urbandale, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-31-GOP%20Campaign/id-e80f5056b64d4e65af3dd58e8fb328ef

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Mohegan Sun casino fails to refinance $811M debt

UNCASVILLE, Conn.?

The parent company of the Indian-run Mohegan Sun casinos in Connecticut and Pennsylvania says it has failed to reach an agreement to refinance $811 million in debt, but lenders have waived a possible default.

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority said Thursday that a delay in refinancing debt was among conditions that "raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern."

Mitchell Etess, chief executive of the authority, which owns and operates the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., told The Associated Press on Friday that the dire warning is only a financial requirement of auditors.
"Auditors have no choice," he said. "They must put in that language."

Etess cited the waiver as a vote of confidence by lenders and cited fourth-quarter income of $46.7 million, compared with a $26.3 million loss in the same quarter last year.

Etess said refinancing is taking a long time because of the weak recovery following a deep and prolonged recession that has sharply cut into consumers' entertainment spending.

He also cited the "status of Native American gaming financing" generally.

"Those impacts that have happened in the outside world have impacted our bondholders' thoughts as we go through the process," Etess said.

The neighboring Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in eastern Connecticut has worked to restructure billions of dollars in debt after its Foxwoods casino was hit hard by the economic downturn and increased competition in the Northeast.

Last month, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians received a six-month extension on loans to May.

And in Washington state, revenue at some tribal casinos fell as much as 30 percent at the start of the recession, forcing tribes to struggle with ways to refinance debt on new casinos and other ventures.

A report issued in March said that for the first time, revenue fell in 2009 at American Indian gambling casinos nationwide as the recession forced consumers to curtail spending. The report by economist Alan Meister of Nathan Associates Inc. said casinos generated about $26.4 billion in 2009, down 1 percent from 2008.

AP-WF-12-30-11 1813GMT

Source: http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-mohegansun-debtdec30,0,2033175.story?track=rss

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