Bolivian president heads welcome reception

Bolivian President Evo Morales Sunday personally welcomed the motorcycle and quad competitors of the Dakar Rally as they arrived in Bolivia as part of the seventh stage of the off-road race.As racers arrived in the southwestern town of Uyuni, a visibly moved Morales thanked the race organizers, the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), for including Bolivia in the multinational route."We did not qualify for the World Cup (soccer finals), but we have a world-class race with the Dakar, and we hope to expand the race next year," said Morales, as he hugged Bolivian motocross competitor Juan Carlos Salvatierra, who was among the top 20 rally racers."Today I have seen ..China visa service. people moving along the mountain ranges, along the rpp resinivers. It is impressive how sports can bring people together, and that is why I thank the ASO for agreeing to be here."Morales said he hoped future editions of the rally, which has helped boost tourism, would continue to include Bolivia, traversing different regions of the country. 

Spain's Joan Barreda (Honda) won the motorcycle race Sunday,Silicone Wristbands which covered a track that led from the Argentine city of Salta to Bolivia's Uyuni, while Chile's Ignacio Casale won the quad race, with a time of 3 hours and 56 minutes.This year marks the first time Bolivia has been included in the route of the rally, which began Jan. 5 in Argentina and concludes Jan. 13 in Chile, though only two of the rally's four vehicle divisions entered Bolivia. Cars and trucks took a different direct route to Chile Sunday.The quad and motorcycle racers crossed into Bolivia at 9:59 am local time (1359 GMT), at a point called "kilometer zero, Pachamama point," in the border town of Villazon.There, Morales, accompanied by his vice president, Alvaro Garcia, and a group of indigenous elders, welcomed the racers with a traditional ritual to Pachamama, or Mother Earth, asking for the race to go well.This year's 36th edition of the rally kicked off in Rosario, Argentina, with 431 vehicles: 174 motorcycles, 40 quads, 147 cars and 70 trucks.

Canada Post unveils stamps marking Chinese Year of the Horse

Canada Post on Monday unveiled a collection of Year of the Horse stamps to usher in the Chinese Lunar New Year, which will start on Jan. 31.The stamps, the seventh issue in a 12-year series, are part of a popular commemorative stamp program Canada Post has been running for the past 18 years.This year's collection, featuring designs by Louis Gagnon and Daniel Robitaille from Montreal-based firm Paprika, depicts outlines of horses. While it is the second time they have issued Year of the Horse stamps, Canada Post's spokesperson, Eugene Knapik, said this year's design was not like its 2002 predecessor."They (the designers) were influenced by shadow puppetry as well as traditional print-making techniques,GM TECH2 so they've gone with flattened images and used foiling to emphasize the flattening of the images," he explained.The two designers both had their own special traits, said Knapik. 

He pointed out that the international stamp this time adds a twist to a technique used in previous issues, using embossing on the entire image of the horse to add dimension, as opposed to just using the technique in small areas.A reusable silicone cup, worn internally to collect menstrual flow. Includes FAQ and testimonials.Menstrual Cup The domestic stamp depicts a horse in motion with a simple and elegant design."With the domestic stamps, they've really gone for motion," he said. "So when you look at the full sheet of 25 domestic stamps, you will see they're in motion like waves, because the tail of one touches the mane of another."Color is also a key element in the 2014 designs, with the designers making use of the traditional Chinese colors of red and gold on the pair of stamps to evoke the liveliness of fire and to portray a powerful and graceful horse. 

The stamps have become a long-standing tradition at Canada Post to usher in the new year and to celebrate the diverse cultures within the country.x431"Our stamp program focuses on all facets of the Canadian experience, and there's 1.5 million people of Chinese heritage living in Canada, and it's the most important festival in the Chinese calendar," said Knapik, adding that it has become one of their most popular series."I'm amazed at the popularity, the number of people who come out and purchase all the stamps," he added.As always, the launch never fails to attract avid collectors who cannot get enough of the series."I come every year because I have grandsons now, and I like to give it to them," said King Wong, an avid collector. "The kids love them, and they enjoy it very much."

Numerous Retailers Said Hit by Data Attacks Similar to Target's

Numerous retailers were probably hit by an unprecedented series of hacking attacks that extends beyond thefts of credit-card data from Target Corp.pendant lampand Neiman Marcus Group, according to a security company working with the Secret Service.The attacks on retailers may involve multiple groups of hackers who appear to be working from a sophisticated piece of software code that began circulating on underground websites last June, according to a report from iSIGHT Partners, a Dallas, Texas-based security company that tracks cyber criminals.The report doesn’t identify whether the software, dubbed Kaptoxa, was used in the theft of as many as 40 million customer credit and debit card accounts from Target. A person briefed on the investigation, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential, confirmed that Kaptoxa is the same software that infected Target. Molly Snyder, a spokeswoman for Target, declined to comment.“We haven’t seen the last of this,” said iSIGHT Chief Executive Officer John Watters in an interview. “Now it’s a race to the bank with the criminals rushing to hijack the data and convert it into criminal gain before the door to profitability is closed.” 

The iSIGHT report said the scale and sophistication of the campaign against retailers’ point of sale systems -- the terminals on which customers swipe credit and debit cards -- may be the largest ever seen, escaping elaborate industry efforts to secure a system that processes more than $3.3 trillion in U.S. transactions annually.Target, the second-largest U.S. discount chain,The knives wholesaler vertical of BRG offers aesthetically and ergonomically designed stainless. has said the theft of customer data may have affected anyone who provided basic information to the retailer over the past several years. In December, Target said credit- and debit-card data for as many as 40 million people who shopped in its stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 may have been compromised. Earlier this month, the company said the thieves also got access to the names, phone numbers and home and e-mail addresses of as many 70 million people.Neiman Marcus said earlier this month some amino resinunauthorized purchases may have been made with customer cards, without disclosing the scope of the breach. Credit-card processors alerted the Dallas-based luxury chain to the incursion in mid-December and the company is working with federal authorities and investigating the matter, according to a statement.

Wall Street rebounds on positive retail sales

U.S. stocks surged Tuesday, bouncing back from Monday's selloff, as better-than-expected retail sales provided a boost to the market.In midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 70. 90 points, or 0.44 percent, to 16,328.84. The S&P 500 climbed 13. 55 points, or 0.74 percent, to 1,832.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index soared 50.85 points, or 1.24 percent, to 4,164.16.U.S. retail sales edged up 0.2 percent in December following a downwardly revised 0.4-percent gain in November, the Commerce Department said, exceeding market forecasts. "The December retail sales numbers look strong," said a research note Tuesday from FTN Financial. It also added the downward revisions to the October and November numbers must be taken into account.U.S. business inventories rose 0.4 percent in November from the preceding month, the department said in a separate report Tuesday.Moreover, U.S. import prices recorded no change in December following two months of declines, while export prices advanced 0.4 percent, the Labor Department said. 

A pair of notable banks posted a mixed picture in their earnings reports, followed by a bound of earnings reports from other giant banks later this week, which is expected to set the tone of the new earnings season.JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, early Tuesday reported a net income of 5.China visa houston3 billion U.S. dollars for the fourth quarter of 2013, down from 5.7 billion dollars a year ago. Its revenue for the quarter was 24.1 billion dollars, down 1 percent compared with the previous year.Legal costs, including the recently announced settlement over JPMorgan's involvement in Bernard Madoff's fraud, took a toll on the bank's results in the fourth quarter. However,Wedding invitations the bank's shares still slightly advanced in midday.Meanwhile, Wells Fargo & Company, the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, reported a record full-year and quarterly net income Tuesday.The main tool that comes in an electric Household scissors often has bits, similar to those used on a drill, that are for sanding and shaping the nail. Its net income in 2013 was 21.9 billion dollars, up 16 percent from last year, while its fourth-quarter net income was 5. 6 billion dollars, up 10 percent year on year.Wells Fargo's record-setting performance was boosted by strong loan and deposit growth, continued improvement in credit quality and strengthened capital levels. But the bank's shares traded in negative territory in the morning trading session.

UPDATE 2-American Express says exposure to Target breach 'minimal'

Credit card company American Express Co , which reported strong quarterly results on Thursday, said it had seen 'minimal exposure' to the data breach at Target Corp stores during the U.S. holiday shopping season.American Express said it had fraud controls in place on accounts affected in the theft, one of the biggest card breaches on record.About 40 million credit card records and 70 million other records containing data on Target's customers were stolen in the breach disclosed in December."The closed-loop is a big advantage for us, especially in situations like this," Chief Financial Officer Jeff Campbell said on a post-earnings conference call, referring to the company's system of issuing its own cards in addition to processing transactions.Clawfoot tubsEarlier in the day, American Express reported a two-fold jump in fourth-quarter profit as its affluent customers spent more in the U.S. holiday season and fewer users defaulted on payments.The mood is light, and Kidd has two reasons for the smile on his obd2."We ended the year on a strong note, with card member spending up 8 percent despite mixed reports during the holiday shopping season," Chief Executive Ken Chenault said in a statement.Concerns over debit and credit card safety have increased after Target, the third-largest U.S. retailer, disclosed the breach that lasted 19 days through Dec. 15.

Cards on American Express's platform are seen as safer than those on Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc platforms due to the 'closed loop' system.American Express benefited from the holiday shopping season in the United States, with billed business in its core market growing 9 percent in the quarter ended Dec. 31, the highest growth in six quarters."Even though overall growth in consumer spending has been somewhat muted, the fact that American Express focuses on affluent consumers is helping it grow its billed business," said Janney Capital Markets analyst Sameer Gokhale.U.S. retail sales increased 3.8 percent in the 2013 holiday season, according to data released by the National Retail Federation on Tuesday.The same day, the U.light projectS. Commerce Department said retail sales including automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants rose 1 percent from a year earlier in the October-December period.American Express, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, said fewer customers defaulted on payments in the quarter, with worldwide net lending write-off rate falling to 1.6 percent from 2 percent, a year earlier.Delinquency rates at credit card companies usually rise in the fourth quarter as customers spend more during the holiday season and then find it difficult to repay loans.

Employment in S.Korea beats expectations in 2013 amid solid recovery

Employment in South Korea beat expectations last year thanks to robust economic recovery caused by the supplementary budget plan in early 2013 and solid job creation in the service industry, a government report showed Wednesday.The South Korean economy created 386,000 jobs in 2013, beating expectations of 320,000 job growth estimated by the government and 300,000 employment forecast by the central bank,Seventh Generation Sanitary Pads, Sanitary Napkin, Sanitary Napkin Pads. Featuring a natural absorbent material derived from wheat.Soft cup according to the Finance Ministry.The ministry said that an average job growth was 292,000 for three years through 2007, noting that last year's job creation exceeded the pre-crisis level.Job creation continued to accelerate last year as the government's massive extra budget plan was implemented in early 2013, boosting the economic recovery and its consequent improvement in the labor market.The Asia's No.4 economy grew 2.A sanitary napkin, sanitary towel, sanitary pad, menstrual pad, maxi pad, or pad is an absorbent item worn by a woman while she is menstruating.Period Cup8 percent last year, with the growth becoming faster to 3.7 percent in the second half of 2013 from 1.9 percent in the first half.An absorbent pad worn externally by women during menstruation to absorb the menstrual flow.Sanitary napkin The Bank of Korea (BOK) expected the economic growth to rise to 3.8 percent in 2014 and 4 percent in 2015.The service sector led last year's job creation. The healthcare and welfare-related industries added 155,000 jobs in 2013 due to the government's efforts to expand support for childcare, and the restaurant and lodging sector created 64,000 workers amid the domestic demand recovery.Employment grew more among those in their 50s and above. Those in their 50s who landed jobs last year were 254,000 with those in their 60s who found jobs reaching 181,000. But those in their 20s and 30s who got a job reduced 50,000 and 21,000 respectively. 

The jobless rate kept falling to 3.1 percent in 2013 after peaking at 3.7 percent in 2010 when the world economy was struggling to recover from the great recession. The jobless rate gauges the percentage of those unemployed who actively sought jobs over the past four weeks to the economically active population, or the sum of people employed and unemployed.The hiring rate was 64.4 percent in 2013, up from 64.2 percent from a year earlier. The employment rate measures the percentage of working people to the working age population, or those aged 15 and over. It is used as an alternative to the jobless rate for assessing labor market conditions.The ministry said that job security rose to the record high level last year due to a rise in regular workers. The rate of regular workers to all wage earners reached 64.4 percent in 2013, up from 62.7 percent in 2012.Overall working hours reduced last year due to an increase in flexible working-hour jobs, which allow workers, especially female laborers, to choose their working hours flexibly to help them nurture children, the ministry said.Meanwhile, the number of those employed increased 560,000 in December from a year earlier, maintaining the job growth of more than 500,000 for two straight months.The hiring rate among those aged between 15 and 64 rose 0.9 percentage point on-year to 64.6 percent last month, while the unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage point to 3 percent in December.

S&P 500 sets all-time high on encouraging data

U.S. stocks, bolstered by positive economic data from the United States and the encouraging fourth-quarter earnings from Bank of America, rose for a second consecutive day Wednesday, bringing the S&P 500 to the uncharted territory.The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index hit a new record high of 1,850.84 points in intraday trading, before receding to end at 1,848.x43138, also an all-time closing high, up 9. 50 points, or 0.52 percent.The Nasdaq Composite Index refreshed a high in more than 13 years, surging 31.87 points, or 0.76 percent, to 4,214.88.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 108.08 points, or 0.66 percent, to 16,481.94.Bank of America released a strong earnings report Wednesday,Banner Pen which said its net income for the fourth quarter of last year soared to 3.4 billion U.S. dollars, or 29 cents per diluted share, compared to 732 million dollars, or 3 cents a share, from the same period of the previous year. The company's total revenue in the quarter rose 15 percent year on year to 21.7 billion dollars.The bank's shares advanced 2.27 percent to 17.15 dollars apiece.The fourth-quarter results from all the six major U.S. banks will be released by the end of this week, which is expected to set the tone of the new earnings season.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo posted a mixed picture in their earnings reports one day earlier.Positive economic data coming out in the day also buoyed investors' sentiment, which had showed a relatively restless sign in the beginning of the New Year following a stellar year of 2013 for the stock market.Manufacturing activity in the New York region expanded at a faster pace in January, with the general business conditions index rising to 12.5, its highest level in more than a year, said the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Wednesday.U.S. mortgage applications surged 11.9 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.Moreover, the U.S. Producer Price Index for finished goods advanced 0.4 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis,GM TECH2 the Labor Department reported.The Federal Reserve's Beige Book strengthened the opinion that the U.S. economy is picking up, saying that economic activity continued to expand across most regions and sectors.In corporate news, Apple shares jumped 2.01 percent to 557.36 dollars apiece, as China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile network, will start selling iPhone models Friday. The Chinese telecom giant has reportedly received 1.2 million pre-orders.