'The Help,' Dujardin win at lively SAG Awards

Castmembers of "The Help" pose backstage with their awards for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. From left, Chris Lowell, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Allison Janney and Viola Davis(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Castmembers of "The Help" pose backstage with their awards for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. From left, Chris Lowell, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Allison Janney and Viola Davis(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

From left, Robert Clohessy, Michael Shannon, Kevin O'Rourke, Gretchen Mol, Peter Van Wagner and Aleksa Palladino pose backstage with their awards for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series for "Boardwalk Empire" at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Jean Dujardin is seen backstage with the award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for "The Artist" at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Finally, an awards show with some surprises and spontaneity.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards featured some unexpected winners, including "The Help" for best overall cast performance and Jean Dujardin for best actor in "The Artist" alongside some of the longtime favorites in movies and television.

But there was a looseness and a playfulness that permeated the Shrine Exposition Center Sunday night ? maybe because it was a room full of people who love to perform, without the rigidity of one single host to lead them.

Unlike the great expectations that came with the sharp-tongued Ricky Gervais' reprisal at the Golden Globes a couple weeks ago or the much-anticipated return of Billy Crystal to the Academy Awards next month, there was no master of ceremonies at the SAG Awards. The presenters and winners seemed to have more room to improvise and put their own spin on the evening ? but mercifully, the show itself still managed to wrap up on time after just two hours.

And so we had three of the stars of best-cast nominee "Bridesmaids" ? Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy ? introducing their comedy with a joke about turning the name "Scorsese" into a drinking game, which became a running gag throughout the night. When HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" won the award for best drama series cast, among the first words star Steve Buscemi uttered in accepting the prize were "Martin Scorsese" ? he just happens to be one of the show's executive producers.

One of the more exciting moments of the night was the announcement of Dujardin's name in the best-actor category for his performance in the silent, black-and-white homage "The Artist." In winning the award for his portrayal of a silent-film star who finds his career in decline with the arrival of talkies, Dujardin definitely boosts his chances at the Oscars on Feb. 26. Little-known in the United States before this, the French comic bested bigger names like George Clooney ("The Descendants"), Brad Pitt ("Moneyball") and Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar").

If he follows this up with an Academy Award, Dujardin would become the first French actor ever to take the prize. Asked backstage how it would feel, Dujardin launched into a jaunty rendition of "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem.

"Pressure, big pressure," Dujardin then added in his halting English. "It's unbelievable. It's amazing already. Too early to tell."

Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer continued to cement their front-runner status in the actress and supporting actress categories, respectively, for their formidable work in "The Help." Both women play black maids in 1960s Mississippi who dare to go public about the bigotry they've endured.

"I just have to say that the stain of racism and sexism is not just for people of color or women. It's all of our burden, all of us," Davis said, accepting the ensemble prize on behalf of her "The Help" co-stars.

Backstage, Davis said of her own victory: "A few more people checked my name in the box for whatever reason. This time I kind of fooled them."

Meanwhile, Christopher Plummer picked up yet another supporting-actor prize for his lovely turn as an elderly widower who finally comes out as gay in "Beginners." Plummer won at the Golden Globes and is nominated for an Oscar. He would become the oldest actor ever to win an Academy Award at age 82, two years older than Jessica Tandy was when she won best actress for "Driving Miss Daisy."

Backstage, Plummer joked when asked if he would like to win an Oscar, an honor so elusive during his esteemed 60-year career that he did not even receive his first Academy Award nomination until two years ago, for "The Last Station."

"No, I think it's frightfully boring," Plummer said. "That's an awful question. Listen, we don't go into this business preoccupied by awards. If we did, we wouldn't last five minutes."

The win for overall cast for "The Help," when "The Artist" and "The Descendants" have been the favorites all along, makes the conversation more interesting but it isn't necessarily an indicator of how the film will do come Oscar time.

The guild's ensemble prize, considered its equivalent of a best-picture honor, has a spotty record at predicting what will win the top award at the Oscars. While "The King's Speech" won both honors a year ago, the SAG ensemble recipient has gone on to claim the top Oscar only eight times in the 16 years since the guild added the category.

The winners at the SAG ceremony often do go on to earn Oscars, however. All four acting recipients at SAG last year later took home Oscars ? Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for "The Fighter."

On the television side, comedy series awards went to "Modern Family" for best ensemble; Alec Baldwin as best actor for "30 Rock"; and Betty White as best actress for "Hot in Cleveland."

"You can't name me, without naming those other wonderful women on 'Hot in Cleveland,'" the 90-year-old White said. "This nomination belongs to four of us. Please, please know that I'm dealing them right in with this. I'm not going to let them keep this, but I'll let them see it."

The TV drama show winners were: Jessica Lange as best actress for "American Horror Story"; and Buscemi as best actor for "Boardwalk Empire."

For TV movie or miniseries, Kate Winslet won as best actress for "Mildred Pierce," while Paul Giamatti was named best actor for "Too Big to Fail."

The guild gave its lifetime achievement award to Mary Tyler Moore, presented by Dick Van Dyke, her co-star on the 1960s sit-com "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

Moore recalled that when she entered show business at age 18 in 1955, there were already six others Mary Moores in the Screen Actors Guild. Told to change her name, she quickly added Tyler, the middle name she shares with her father, George.

"I was Mary Tyler Moore. I spoke it out loud. Mary Tyler Moore. It sounded right so I wrote it down on the form, and it looked right," she said. "It was right. SAG was happy, my father was happy, and tonight, after having the privilege of working in this business among the most creative and talented people imaginable, I too am happy, after all."

___

AP writers David Germain and Beth Harris contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.sagawards.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-30-SAG%20Awards/id-02809ee6a3f7420c823acba6ff7756b2

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Marine guilty plea brings final Haditha case to a close (Reuters)

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) ? The U.S. Marine sergeant accused of leading a massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha pleaded guilty on Monday to dereliction of duty, ending the final prosecution stemming from a 2005 incident that brought international condemnation of U.S. troops.

Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.

Wuterich was initially charged with murder.

He now faces a maximum sentence of three months of confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and a reduction in rank when he is sentenced on Tuesday at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base north of San Diego, a base spokesman said.

Wuterich, 31, was accused of being the ringleader in a series of November 19, 2005, shooting and grenade attacks that left two dozen civilians dead in Haditha, a city west of Baghdad that was then a hotbed of insurgent activity.

The killings were portrayed by Iraqi witnesses as a massacre of unarmed civilians and brought international condemnation of the U.S. military.

Local witnesses claimed angry Marines had killed unarmed men, women, and children after a popular comrade, Lance Corporal Miguel "TJ" Terrazas, was killed by a roadside bomb.

Lawyers for the troops involved argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving situation in which the Marines believed they were under enemy fire.

Wuterich pleaded not guilty when the court-martial began in early January.

The court-martial was suspended last Wednesday by the presiding military judge, who ordered prosecutors and defense lawyers to seek a negotiated plea deal. The trial resumed on Friday for one day, and the plea agreement was announced on Monday morning.

Six out of the eight Marines originally accused in the case had their charges dismissed by military judges, and a seventh was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Marty Graham and Mary Slosson; Writing by Steve Gorman, Editing by Paul Thomasch)

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Canadian minister blasts China ahead of PM's visit (Reuters)

OTTAWA (Reuters) ? Canada's foreign minister launched an outspoken attack on China's "abhorrent" treatment of religious minorities on Monday, just weeks before Prime Minister Stephen Harper goes to Beijing in a bid to sell more oil.

John Baird's comments came as a major surprise, given Canada's right-of-center Conservative government has gradually toned down its attacks on Chinese human rights issues over the years in favor of boosting trade.

Baird said in a speech in England that he would speak out against what he saw as attacks on freedom of religion.

"In China, we see Roman Catholic priests, Christian clergy and their laity, worshipping outside of state-sanctioned boundaries, who are continually subject to raids, arrests, and detention," he said in his prepared remarks.

"We see Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uyghur Muslims face harassment, and physical intimidation. These abhorrent acts fly in the face of our core principals, our core values."

China has recently started jailing writers on subversion charges, suggesting a crackdown on dissidents ahead of a leadership transition later in the year.

Neither Harper's chief spokesman nor the Chinese embassy were immediately available for comment.

Chinese troops fired on thousands of Tibetans protesting in southwestern Sichuan province on Monday, killing at least one and wounding more, two overseas advocacy groups said [ID:nL4E8CN6R0]

Some Conservatives have always been suspicious of China and it was not immediately clear whether Baird's words were aimed at a primarily Canadian audience.

"The minister has said himself on countless occasions that often he had to raise difficult subjects and he had to be prepared to do so, no matter who was on the other side of the table, and this is another one of those cases," said Baird spokesman Joseph Lavoie.

Last year Baird vowed to set up an office of religious freedom which he said on Monday would help Canada "speak out when we see religious intolerance and hate being spread".

Harper - accompanied by International Trade Minister Ed Fast - is due to visit China in the second week of February and has made clear he will be talking about energy exports.

Ottawa is keen to sell more oil to China in the wake of Washington's decision to block TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, which would have taken oil sands-derived crude from the province of Alberta to refineries on the Texas coast.

The Canadian government, its eyes now on the Chinese energy market, is openly backing Enbridge Inc's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline which would run from Alberta to the Pacific Coast allowing oil sands crude to be shipped by tanker to Asian markets.

"We must seek new markets for our products and services, and the booming Asia-Pacific economies have shown great interest in Canada's minerals, oil, gas and metals," Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said in a speech on Monday.

Chinese firms are taking an increasing interest in the tar sands and have bought $5.5 billion worth of Canadian energy assets and companies since the middle of 2011.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_china_canada

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Egypt's Islamists win 75 percent of parliament (AP)

CAIRO ? Final results on Saturday showed that Islamist parties won nearly three-quarters of the seats in parliament in Egypt's first elections since the ouster of authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak, according to election officials and political groups.

The Islamist domination of Egypt's parliament has worried liberals and even some conservatives about the religious tone of the new legislature, which will be tasked with forming a committee to write a new constitution. It remains unclear whether the constitution will be written while the generals who took power after Mubarak's fall are still in charge, or rather after presidential elections this summer.

In the vote for the lower house of parliament, a coalition led by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood won 47 percent, or 235 seats in the 498-seat parliament. The ultraconservative Al-Nour Party was second with 25 percent, or 125 seats.

The Salafi Al-Nour, which was initially the biggest surprise of the vote, wants to impose strict Islamic law in Egypt, while the more moderate Brotherhood, the country's best-known and organized party, has said publicly that it does not seek to force its views about an appropriate Islamic lifestyle on Egyptians.

The two parties are unlikely to join forces because of ideological differences, but both have a long history of charity work in Egypt's vast poverty-stricken neighborhoods and villages, giving them a degree of legitimacy and popularity across the country in areas where newer liberal parties have yet to get a foothold.

Muslim Brotherhood lawmaker Mohammed el-Beltagi said the new parliament represents "the wish of the Egyptian people."

Egypt's elections commission acknowledged that there were voting irregularities, but the vote has been hailed as the country's freest and fairest in living memory.

The liberals who spearheaded the revolt that toppled Mubarak struggled to organize and connect with a broader public in the vote, and did not fair as well as the Islamists.

The Egyptian bloc, which is headed by a party founded by Christian telecom tycoon Naguib Sawiris, said it won 9 percent of the seats in parliament. Egypt's oldest secular party, the Wafd, also won around 9 percent.

Newer parties, such as the liberal Revolution Continues Party won 2 percent, as did the Islamist Center Party, which had been banned from politics under Mubarak.

The results leave the liberal groups with little ability to maneuver in parliament, unless they choose to mobilize the street in protests or work on key issues with the dominant Islamist groups, said Mohamed Abu-Hamed, the deputy leader of the liberal Free Egyptians Party.

The Brotherhood has refused to join recent street protests, saying that elections and the new parliament are the best ways to respond to demands that the military transfer power immediately to a civilian authority.

"The street and the parliament are not at opposite ends. The issues are not going to be resolved by protests, but through parliamentary laws," the Brotherhood's el-Beltagi said.

The final tally, which includes at least 15 seats for former regime figures, comes as little surprise since election results had been partially announced throughout the three stages of the vote, which took place over several weeks across the country.

The United States long shunned Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and turned a blind-eye to the arrest and torture of Salafis, who now comprise the bulk of Al-Nour Party's constituents, under Mubarak, who was a longtime U.S. ally.

However, top U.S. officials from the State Department have recently met with the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders, who have in turn assured Western officials that they respect minority rights and support democracy.

A White House statement said that President Barack Obama called Egypt's ruling military leader, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, on Friday and welcomed the historic seating of the lower house of Egypt's Parliament, which is set to convene for the first time on Monday. Activists have accused the country's military leaders of repressive tactics. Critics say the nearly 12,000 civilians who have faced military trials since Mubarak's ouster have not been afforded proper due process.

Chief military prosecutor Adel el-Morsi said that 1,959 people convicted in military courts since Mubarak's ouster would be released on the one-year anniversary of the start of the uprising on Wednesday.

Among them would be Maikel Nabil Sanad, a blogger who was arrested in March and sentenced to two years in prison on charges of criticizing the armed forces and publishing false information for comments on his blog comparing the military to Mubarak's regime.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

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Pawn Business Booming | WJTV

"We?ll take just about anything," comments the owner of USA Pawn & Jewelry.

But, Brian Smith says, gold is probably the most popular item to pawn.

"Gold has gone way up.? It?s tripled in the last couple of years," explains Smith.

They?ve also gotten a lot of electronics, computers and firearms.

"We want to loan you the most money we can.? The more I loan you, the more I make," comments Smith.

Smith tells us, there have been times when people have tried to sell them stolen items.

"We don't want the stolen stuff.? We lose.? Police pick it up, and we lose the money we put in it," expresses Smith.

And, they do research to make sure the items are valid.

"We have a process to see if it's theirs or not.? Where did you get it, how much you pay for it, how much you want to borrow, can you hook it up for me," continues Smith.

They also have a strong retail business, which helps in a down economy.

"We sell all the same stuff as high end jewelry stores and all the electronic stores at a fraction of the price," adds Smith.

Source: http://www2.wjtv.com/news/2012/jan/20/pawn-business-booming-ar-3084561/

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Romney lowers expectations in South Carolina (Reuters)

GILBERT, South Carolina (Reuters) ? With the crucial Republican presidential primary in South Carolina just hours away, longtime front-runner Mitt Romney is acknowledging what some opinion polls are suggesting: He could lose Saturday.

The idea that the former governor of liberal Massachusetts may not win the primary in a state where conservative evangelical Christians make up about 60 percent of Republican voters isn't that surprising.

But Romney's path to a neck-and-neck finish with former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich has begun to look like a lost opportunity, defined by Romney's reluctance to reveal more about his vast wealth and his repeated inability to explain why.

The former private equity executive's discomfort in discussing such personal matters was again evident in Thursday night's debate in Charleston.

When asked whether he would release 12 years of tax returns as his father, George, had done while running for president in 1968, Romney said through a thin smile, "Maybe."

The answer drew a few catcalls from the conservative audience, and contrasted sharply with how Gingrich deftly turned a question about cheating on his second wife into an attack on the media that drew a standing ovation.

It may have been the defining moment of the campaign in South Carolina, the third contest in the state-by-state race to determine who will face Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 elections.

As Romney tried to pump up supporters' enthusiasm Friday and launched new attacks on Gingrich, a question hung over Romney's campaign: Why does he have such difficulty answering questions about his money?

His wealth, now an estimated $270 million, has been an issue during his previous runs for office -- notably in 1994, when he lost a U.S. Senate race to incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy.

Romney said Friday that he has been more focused on campaign issues such as jobs and the economy, and acknowledged that he may not have handled questions about his finances as well as he could have.

"I can't possibly tell you that everything I do in the campaign is perfect," he told reporters here.

Voters, pundits and others offered other theories about his problems dealing the issue of his finances.

Like Gingrich, some questioned whether Romney has something to hide.

Perhaps the most intriguing theory came from Michael Kranish and Scott Helman, co-authors of a new book on Romney called "The Real Romney."

During an interview on CNN, Kranish said a Romney family member told the authors that Romney's cautious manner while campaigning -- which can make him seem distant and stiff -- partly reflects a lesson he learned from his father.

George Romney was a chairman of American Motors and a Michigan governor. As a presidential candidate in 1968, he supported the Vietnam War but became an opponent of it after visiting Vietnam with several congressmen.

George Romney later said during a TV interview that his earlier position was the product of "brainwashing" by generals and others who backed the war.

The comment sunk his bid for the Republican nomination, which was won by Richard Nixon.

"That one sentence pretty much exploded his presidential ambitions," Kranish said. "And Mitt Romney has taken a lesson from that. ... As a result, Mitt is more careful, more scripted in what he says because one sentence could perhaps end (his) campaign as it did his father's."

Kranish added that within his circle of trusted advisers, Romney is "very warm."

With the general public, however, "it could be a hard connection to make, especially given his great wealth ... and trying to make that connection to the average person."

Kranish added that Romney could use more of the "free-flowing nature that his father had."

'A LONG SLOG'

Just a few days ago, Romney appeared to be in position to take a big step toward wrapping up the Republican nomination by sailing to victory in South Carolina, having won in New Hampshire.

But on Friday, amid signs that what had been a 15- to 20-point lead over Gingrich was shrinking rapidly, Romney and his surrogates were casting the race as a months-long marathon.

"This is a long slog," said former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, a Romney supporter. "Mitt Romney's strength has been clearly defined as being ready for a long campaign."

On a rainy Friday, Romney also sought to lower expectations for Saturday, and noted that Gingrich is from neighboring Georgia.

"Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well-known, popular in the state, so I knew we'd have a long road ahead of us" in South Carolina, Romney said. "Frankly, to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting."

As disappointing as it would be for Romney's campaign to finish in any place but first in South Carolina, he remains the best positioned of the four Republican candidates remaining in the race.

He has more campaign funds and a stronger organization than Gingrich and the two other Republican contenders, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and Texas congressman Ron Paul.

Such advantages for Romney could be key in the next primary, in Florida on January 31.

Florida is one of the largest states in the nation with several major media markets. Maintaining a traveling campaign and covering the state with TV ads is more expensive in Florida than most other states.

"I'm still hoping and planning to win here" in South Carolina, Romney said. "I'm sure the speaker feels the same way I do, but we're going to go on for a long race and I think I've got the staying power and a message that I believe connects with people."

Romney has held big leads in many South Carolina polls, but one survey released Friday by Clemson University showed Gingrich leading Romney 32 percent to 26 percent. Another poll, by American Research Group, showed the race in a virtual tie.

"HONESTY, CHARACTER"

Romney's campaign has been scrambling since Monday, when his finances became a particularly hot issue.

That was the day Romney acknowledged that his income tax rate is 15 percent. That's well below what most wage-earning Americans pay, and suggests that much of Romney's income is capital gains from investments.

On Friday, Romney's campaign tried to take some of the air out of Gingrich's ascent.

In an apparent dig at Gingrich, Romney said the Republican nominee needs to have "vision, trust, honesty, character, integrity."

Santorum, who performed well in Thursday's debate with several jabs at Romney and Gingrich, also has tried to cast Gingrich as "erratic."

Romney's campaign called for Gingrich to release documents involving an ethics investigation of him when he was speaker in 1997.

Gingrich scoffed at the suggestion, saying that the documents already were public.

Gingrich's standing in recent polls suggest that his efforts to win support among evangelical Christian voters have not been damaged much by questions about his personal life.

On Thursday, however, a former wife, Marianne, said in an ABC interview that Gingrich had sought an "open marriage" when he was having an affair in the 1990s with Callista Bisek, who later became Gingrich's third wife.

Gingrich's denial of his former wife's allegation was his shining moment during Thursday's debate.

(Additional reporting by Sam Youngman and Colleen Jenkins; Editing by David Lindsey and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign

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Video: The Goldfinger Mystery, Part 3

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.

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