Israel sees new US poise, including military, to curb Iran

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S.-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program have resumed since President Barack Obama's re-election and include preparation for possible military action, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday.
The remarks by Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon suggested cautious optimism at prospects for an international resolution to the decade-old standoff with Tehran, though Israel says it remains ready to attack its arch-foe alone as a last resort.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set out a mid-2013 "red line" for tackling Iran's uranium enrichment project. The West says this program is aimed at developing the means to build atomic bombs. Tehran denies this, saying it is enriching uranium solely for peaceful civilian uses.
Yaalon told Army Radio on Tuesday that Israel knew there would be no movement on the issue before the U.S. election in November, but had expected a renewed effort after the vote.
"And indeed it has been renewed," he said.
He cited contacts among the six world powers - the United States, Russia, France, China, Britain and Germany - and Iran about holding new nuclear negotiations, ongoing sanctions against Iran, "and preparations, mainly American for now, for the possibility that military force will have to be used".
Yaalon did not elaborate. Another Israeli official told Reuters the minister was alluding mainly to recent U.S. military mobilization in the Gulf.
The powers said last week they hoped soon to agree with Iran soon on when and where to meet. There have been suggestions it could happen this month, though January now seems more likely.
But, sounding defiant, Iran's top nuclear official was on Tuesday quoted as saying there would be no halt to uranium enrichment to 20 percent fissile purity - an advanced threshold alarming foreign negotiators.
ZONE OF IMMUNITY
A former armed forces chief who belongs to Netanyahu's rightist Likud party, Yaalon questioned Obama's resolve on Iran during the Democratic president's first term. By contrast, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, the lone centrist in Netanyahu's coalition government, argued in Obama's favor.
Yaalon is a frontrunner to succeed Barak, who has announced he will retire from politics after Israel's January 22 election.
On Monday, Barak reiterated Israel's determination to deny Iran the capability to make a bomb. Israel, widely assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a mortal threat.
The prospect of unilateral Israeli air strikes, and ensuing retaliation by Iran, a big oil exporter, and its Islamist guerrilla allies in Lebanon and Gaza, worries world powers, in part because it could destabilize a fragile global economy.
Speaking to Jewish leaders in New York, Barak acknowledged the limitations of Israeli forces against Iran's distant, dispersed and well-defended nuclear facilities.
"The Iranians are deliberately trying to create a level of redundancy and protection for their program, what we call the ‘zone of immunity'. Once they enter the zone of immunity, fate will be out of our hands," Barak said.
"The state of Israel was founded precisely so that our fate would remain in our own hands."
Barak's term "redundancy" refers to Israel's belief that Iran seeks to stockpile raw uranium and enrichment centrifuges on a scale that would allow it to restore independent nuclear capacity should its known facilities be attacked.
Iran's nuclear infrastructure has been dogged by sabotage, including cyberwarfare. Iran's Ministry of Communications and Technology Information said on Sunday it had identified a "new, targeted data-wiping malware". The ministry's statement did not say what computer systems might have been affected.
While Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility for such incidents, Yaalon said there could be more in store, in parallel to global economic pressure.
"Sometimes malfunctions happen there - worms, viruses, explosions. Therefore this schedule is not necessarily chronological. It is more technological," he told Army Radio.
"We are, without a doubt, closely tracking developments in the program there, lest they attempt to pass the red line.

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Three burning questions loom as RIM gets ready to report

Some people say that the November quarter that Research In Motion (RIMM) will report this week is not important. They are wrong. Even though the new BlackBerry model range debuting in 2013 is the key for RIM’s long-term survival, there are three issues that are vitally important for the company right now. RIM must keep certain aspects of its performance from caving in before the new phones begin trickling to the market early next year, and here are three things to watch for as RIM reports its fiscal third-quarter results on Thursday.
[More from BGR: How to turn an old Kindle Fire into a Nexus 7 with Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean [video]]
Global subscriber base. RIM surprised the market when it reported its summer quarter by showing continuing global subscriber growth despite its U.S. collapse and European trouble. Blackberry’s growth has continued in Africa, Middle Wast and South-East Asia, giving RIM surprising longevity considering its share of new smartphone sales in America may have caved below 3% by now. However, a recent Kantar Worldpanel study showed that in the three months ending in October, BlackBerry market share slipped badly in markets like Brazil and Spain. Until last summer, RIM had maintained a decent grip on Latin America and Mediterranean countries via its cheap Curve devices. They may have finally started eroding even in those countries where BlackBerry had retained some vigor as a low-end youth brand. After its surprisingly robust 80 million subscriber base number from the summer quarter, RIM can afford to show a bit of erosion in November and February quarters. But steep drops would be deeply worrisome — RIM may not get aggressively priced low-end models based on the new OS out before next summer or even autumn.
ASP level. RIM has experienced steep average sales price decline over the past year. Nevertheless, another major plunge is still possible. In the UK market, BlackBerry Christmas promotions are almost entirely built around the cheap Curve 932o — and its price as a pre-paid model has plunged to unprecedented 99 pounds. This is exceptionally low for a model that debuted just last spring. European operators have effectively abandoned RIM’s more expensive business-focused models like the Bold. BlackBerry phones are now being marketed as some of the cheapest smartphones anyone can buy. How deep will this cut into RIM’s ASPs? If the plunge is bad enough, reversing the damage with new high-end models next summer may be extremely difficult. The core customer base for RIM’s high-end devices was built on the U.S. and the UK markets, but RIM has wiped out in America nearly completely and the UK carriers have switched to marketing BlackBerry handsets as bargain bin specials on par with Huawei or ZTE models. If BlackBerry ASP level dives too low during November and February quarters, undoing the damage will be a herculean task.
BlackBerry Messenger popularity. Business News reported last January that BlackBerry Messenger was growing at 140% pace in Nigeria, one of the key African mobile phone markets. BBM’s user base growth last winter was also torrid in South Africa. However, stand-alone messaging apps like WhatsApp and 2go have delivered scorching growth in Africa and Asia during 2012. 2go has soared ahead of Blackberry Messenger in popularity in Nigeria and is spreading rapidly in South Africa. WhatsApp became a top-three iPhone app in more than 100 countries last winter and offers cross-platform support that is a big draw in the South-East Asian markets that remain RIM’s lifeline: Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. Globally, WhatsApp has grown from relaying 1 billion daily messages in the fall of 2011 to 10 billion by fall 2012. By now, that rampant growth may have started encroaching on BBM popularity. RIM does not report on Messenger user numbers every quarter, so visibility on this front could remain limited in coming months. But any erosion in the Messenger user base is likely to have an impact on RIM’s overall subscriber base.

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New Android botnet discovered across all major networks

A new Android spam botnet has been discovered across all major networks that sends thousands of text messages without a user’s permission, TheNextWeb reported. The threat, which is known at SpamSoldier, was detected on December 3rd by Lookout Security in cooperation with an unnamed carrier partner. The malware is said to spread through a collection of infected phones that send text messages, which usually advertise free versions of popular paid games like Grand Theft Auto and Angry Birds Space, to hundreds of users each day.
[More from BGR: Facebook’s Instagram monetization plan: License users’ photos without paying for them]
Once a user clicks on the link to download the game, his or her phone instead downloads the malicious app. When the app is downloaded, SpamSoilder removes its icon from the app drawer, installs a free version of the game in question and immediately starts sending spam messages.
[More from BGR: How not to fix Apple Maps]
The security firm notes that the threat isn’t widespread, however it has been spotted on all major carriers in the U.S. and has potential to do serious damage if something isn’t done soon to stop it.

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16 Things You Forgot Happened in 2012

1. GoDaddy Supported SOPA and Faced the Consequences
Technically this debacle took place in the last week of 2011, but the backlash lasted well into 2012. GoDaddy, the popular domain registrar and web hosting company, showed early support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a hotly contested bill regarding copyright violations that was introduced by U.S. Representative Lamar S. Smith. Many Internet users believed SOPA would lead to extreme censorship of the web and were shocked to hear that GoDaddy supported it. As a result, hundreds of high-profile sites joined a boycott and mass-transfer movement sparked by Ben Huh, founder of the Cheezburger Network, moving their domains away from GoDaddy. The company eventually withdrew its support for SOPA, but not before it lost many customers. In September 2012, GoDaddy faced another PR nightmare when its DNS servers went down due to a distributed denial of service attack, and with the servers went many customers' websites for a long period of time. The company apparently didn't have a backup plan, furthering soiling its reputation. Image courtesy of Flickr, dsleeter_2000.
Click here to view this gallery.
[More from Mashable: 7 Ways Augmented Reality Will Improve Your Life]
This has been quite the eventful year. What with the U.S. presidential election, Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, the continued influence of social media in the Arab Spring and countless other major headlines, it's easy for smaller yet nonetheless significant news events to escape our memories.
SEE ALSO: 40 Essential Mashable Stories You May Have Missed in 2012
[More from Mashable: Cinemagram’s Picks for 13 Incredible GIFs of 2012]
Since it's nearly impossible to remember everything that happened in 365 days, we've rounded up 16 stories that you may have forgotten about in 2012. From the serious to the hilarious, the offensive to the heartwarming, you'll be reminded of something worth remembering.
What other 2012 news do you think is worth remembering? Share your small but important picks in the comments.

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LG’s woeful comeback attempt

Back in 2008, Samsung (005930) and LG (06657011) were battling head to head in North America and Europe. Now Samsung is heading for 29% global handset market share for 2012, while LG is tumbling to 4%. After a long and depressing spiral, LG has staged a fairly aggressive come-back attempt in the end of 2012. Sadly enough, the bid for relevance seems to be coming undone.
[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test [video]]
Perhaps the most visible part of LG’s rebound effort is Nexus 4 — the sleek quad-core Android phone that was supposed to be a hot Christmas item in Europe and North America due to its reasonable price and hot display tech. But production problems have hampered the Nexus 4 roll-out badly, leading to the first shipment selling out in half an hour in the United Kingdom and Canadian retailers offering four-to-seven week shipping estimates at the end of November. The resulting friction between Google (GOOG) and LG has now led to an ominously snippy comment from Google’s United Kingdom and Ireland Managing Director Dan Cobley: “Supplies from the manufacturer are scarce and erratic, and our communication has been flawed.” This does not bode well for the Google-LG relationship in 2013.
[More from BGR: Google Maps causes huge spike in iOS 6 adoption]
LG’s recent strategy for its high-end models resembles HTC (2498) approach: price them like Samsung and hope for the best. The results have been similarly devastating to both brands. The LG L9 costs a bizarre 23,000 rupees in India, where the cheapest iPhone is now 26,000 rupees. While Nokia (NOK) and Samsung wage war in the 4,000 to 7,000 rupee smartphone price bracket, LG is putting a lot of effort to compete directly with the iPhone and Galaxy S III. Whereas HTC is finally catching a wave in  Europe with its cheap new Windows model 8S, LG has opted to stay in the brutally competitive Android arena.
Of course, LG still competes also in the low-end market. But the one-time champion of the cheap smartphone niche is being squeezed hard by the Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE. LG’s pivotal low-end model for 2012 is L3. Its prepaid price in the U.K. has started drifting towards the £50 mark, pushed there by tepid consumer interest.
Two years ago getting a decent touch screen smartphone for £50 would have been a sensation. But the Chinese vendors have been moving aggressively down the price ladder while improving build quality rapidly. Comparisons to Chinese cheapie models have been tough on LG. “Tiny, awfully low-res screen… creaky, scratch-prone body… glitchy software… underwhelming hardware,” concluded a cruel CNET UK analysis of the L3. The Chinese are raising the bar in the bargain basement category too rapidly for LG to keep up.
So here is the one-time close rival of Samsung: losing ground to Chinese at the low-end; blown out of the water at the high-end by Galaxy S III and iPhone 5; botching the crucial mid-range Nexus 4 roll-out. HTC is now showing some glimmers of a turnaround, but LG remains on the Siemens express to phone brand oblivion.

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U.S. Housing Market Still On Life Support; Prices At 2003 Levels

With each passing year, the former Oracle of the Fed, Alan Greenspan, is reminded that there really was a housing bubble and lowering interest rates to record lows just made matters worse.  Nearly four years after the housing market peak in 2007, record low mortgage rates are no match for falling incomes and 9% unemployment.
The Case-Shiller Home Price Index, released on Tuesday, showed that nation wide home prices did not register a significant change in the third quarter of 2011, with the U.S. National Home Price Index up by only 0.1% from its second quarter level. Home prices are down 3.9% across the board and are now back to their first quarter of 2003 levels. The market consensus was for a 3% decline year over year.
From August to September, housing prices have fallen the most in Atlanta, with a 5.9% decline, followed by Tampa Bay and San Francisco, both with a 1.5% drop in housing prices.
Boston, New York, Washington and Los Angeles remain the most expensive cities in the lower 48 states.
"The plunging collapse of prices seen in 2007-2009 seems to be behind us," says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. "Any chance for a sustained recovery will probably need a stronger economy.

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Home market being held back by wary first-timers

 This should be a great time to buy a first home. Prices have sunk to 2002 levels. Sellers are waiting anxiously as homes languish on the market. Mortgage rates are their lowest ever.
Yet the most likely first-time homeowners, especially young professionals and couples starting families, won't buy these days. Or they can't. Or they already did, during the housing boom. And their absence helps explain why the housing industry is still depressed.
The obstacles range from higher down payments to heavy debt from credit cards and student loans. But even many of those who could afford to buy no longer see it as a wise investment. Prices have sunk 15 percent in three years.
"I've looked for a home, but the places we can afford with the money we have are not that great," says Seth Herter, 23, a store manager in suburban St. Louis. "It also doesn't seem smart anymore to buy with prices falling. Buying a home just doesn't make sense to us."
The proportion of U.S. households that own homes is at 65.1 percent, its lowest point since 1996, the Census Bureau says. That marks a shift after nearly two decades in which homeownership grew before peaking at 70 percent during the housing boom.
The housing bubble lured so many young buyers that it reduced the pool of potential first-timers to below-normal levels. That's contributed to the decline in new buyers in recent years.
In 2005, at the height of the boom, about 2.8 million first-timers bought homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. By contrast, for each of the four years preceding the boom, the number of first-timers averaged fewer than 2 million.
Still, the bigger factors are the struggling economy, shaky job security, tougher credit rules and lack of cash to put down, said Dan McCue, research manager at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. The unemployment rate among typical first-timers, those ages 25 to 34, is 9.8 percent, compared with 9 percent for all adults.
"The obstacles facing first-time buyers are big, and it's changing the way they look at home ownership," McCue says. "It's no longer the American Dream for the younger generation."
First-timers usually account for up to half of all sales. Over the past year, they've accounted for only about a third.
A big reason is tougher lending standards.
Lenders are demanding more money up front. In 2002, the median down payment for a single-family home in nine major U.S. cities was 4 percent, according to real estate website Zillow.com. Today, it's 22 percent.
And one-third of households have credit scores too low to qualify for a mortgage. The median required credit score from FICO Inc., the industry leader in credit ratings, has risen from 720 in 2007, when the market went bust, to 760 today.
Homes in many places are the most affordable in a generation. In the past year, the national median sale price has sunk 3.5 percent. Half the homes listed in the Tampa Bay area are priced below $100,000.
The average mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan is 4 percent, barely above an all-time low. Five years ago, it was near 6.5 percent. In 2000, it exceeded 8 percent.
When the economy eventually strengthens, the housing market will, too. More people will be hired. Confidence will rise. Down payments won't be so hard to produce.
The question is whether first-time buyers will then start flowing into the housing market. That will depend mainly on whether they think prices will rise, said Mark Vitner, senior U.S. economist at Wells Fargo.
"It's a guessing game as to when things will turn around," Vitner said. "But until they do, you won't see young people buying homes."

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First Person: I Repaid My Student Loans While Still in College

Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Do you have a personal finance story that you'd like to share? Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to start publishing your own finance articles.
The first two years of my college experience was spent at a community college. My tuition was covered, but I took out a loan for $20,000 to cover living expenses. Upon transferring to a costly four-year university I received a hefty scholarship, which covered most of my expenses. Still, my loans were at $11,500 per year. The day of my graduation, I received the coveted diploma and a not-so-coveted array of bills for my student loans.
However, the difference between other students and myself was the large sum of money lingering my savings account that I started four years prior. Let me explain how I managed to pay off my bills on the same day that I graduated from college:
Federal Loans Only
The first goal during my college career was to stay away from private student loans because they are nightmares. Trust me, I know. I took out a $5,000 private student loan in my first year of college and watched it as it was passed around from lender to lender and the interest rate jumped around, ranging from 8% to 20%. Not to mention the compounding of interest that increased the loan nearly $1,500 in eight months. Needless to say, I paid that off with every dime that I had to give to it by taking on a job. Please, if you can avoid them, do not take out alternative loans.
The government offers student loans at wonderful interest rates and the government will pay the interest of the loan while you are pursuing your education.
Monthly Payments While in School
Let's evaluate my loans. During years one and two, I took out $7,500 for each year. My plan was to get a job that I could take the money that I would need to pay off the loan in one year and pay it into a high-interest savings account. That meant that for years one and two, I paid $625 into my savings account each month. During years three and four, I took out $11,500 per year, which meant that I had to contribute $960 each month to the savings account. This may seem like a lot of money, but at the time I was single and still didn't have my daughter (until the fourth year), so it was easy to have all of my expenses paid, get a job on the side and contribute all of that money into a savings account.
At the end of the four years, I had contributed $43,000 to my savings account and earned about $1,000 in interest on the money.
On the day of my graduation I was able to pay off my student loans and never had to pay a cent of interest. If you are financially capable to do this, then I suggest that you do it. All it takes is finding extra income through a part time job or funding. You will save thousands of dollars in interest if you can manage this. If you cannot afford to pay the monthly payment, then pay half of it or pay what the interest would be on the loan. That way you can make a lump sum payment at the end of your college education.

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End-of-the-Year Checklist for Divorcing Women

Most women wait until after the holidays to move forward with their divorces --and that’s completely understandable. Many don’t want to disrupt family traditions for their children. Some welcome the distraction offered by the hustle and bustle of the season. And, of course, others want to avoid the discussions that inevitably seem to arise whenever and wherever relatives gather.
Interestingly, though, January is the month when most divorces are filed. Obviously, turning the page towards a New Year inspires a fresh start –and that’s completely understandable, too. If you’re headed in that direction, it makes sense to spend a little time this month planning ahead. You can do so discreetly, and then know that you’ll truly be ready to start the New Year on the right foot.
To help get you begin, here are a few things you can do now to help make the divorce process smoother in 2012:
1. Start collecting financial documents. Watch the mail for year-end statements from banks, credit card companies, etc.  As we outline in our Divorce Financial Checklist, preparing for divorce requires gathering all the relevant documents related to your bank and brokerage accounts, credit cards, mortgages, etc. Once you have collected them, make copies, and take them to a trusted friend/family member, or use a safe deposit box that your husband can’t access.
2. Check your credit report. While you’re gathering your financial records, keep a careful eye on your credit card statements, and if you haven’t already done so, request a copy of your credit report. Once you have the report, monitor your score carefully so you’ll be the first to know if any unusual activity occurs.  (For example, is your husband using your joint credit cards to buy his girlfriend gifts this holiday season?)  See my post, How To Protect Your Credit Score During Your Divorce, for more tips
3. Research divorce professionals in your area. If you want to ensure the best possible outcome for your divorce, take the time to build a qualified divorce team. I recommend you start with these three players: a matrimonial/family law attorney, a divorce financial planner and a therapist/counselor. Spend some time this month researching divorce professionals and create a short list of candidates for each position. Schedule interviews with each top contender in January, and rest easy knowing that by February 2012, you’ll be benefiting from the expert guidance of a top-notch divorce team.
4. Open new accounts in your name. Moving forward as a single woman in 2012 will require that you have a bank account and credit cards in your name. Lay the groundwork now.  Don’t use the bank where you currently have your joint accounts. Go to a different bank and open both a savings and a checking account in your name. You’ll need your own credit card, too, so you should start that process now, as well. New federal regulations are making it harder than ever for women with little or no income to establish credit on their own. You can do it. But, plan accordingly and know that securing credit is going to be more complicated than just filling out an application or making a single phone call.
5. Remain vigilant. Is your husband using the good cheer of the holidays as cover while he dissipates family assets? Be attentive, and if you are concerned at all about financial shenanigans by your husband, you may want to think twice about filing a joint return with him for 2011.
Some women who are considering divorce let the holidays get them down. Don’t be one of them. Use this opportunity to start planning ahead, and you’ll be able to start the New Year confident that you are on the way to a more stable and secure financial future.

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It's Not Too Late: Year-End Tax Moves

Once you’ve reached the last month of the tax year, your options are limited to minimize your income taxes. But there are a few things that could still be done, so don’t give up hope.
For example, you could double up your real estate taxes by prepaying next year’s tax during December. Doing this with, for example, a $3,000 per year real estate tax bill could result in a reduction of tax for the year of $750 if you’re in the 25% bracket. Keep in mind though, that you’ll have forked out this money long before it is actually due in most cases, and for the next year you won’t have this deduction available if you used it in this year.
The same could be done with your charitable contributions - there’s no reason that you can’t make additional contributions to your favorite charities at the end of this year instead of waiting until next year.
You could also send your final estimated state income tax payment due in January of next year during December and claim that payment on this year’s itemized deductions as well.
Prepaying your January mortgage payment will credit that mortgage interest to this year as well, further increasing your itemized deductions.
Other itemized deductions could be “stacked” in one year, such as medical expenses (subject to the 7.5% floor) and miscellaneous deductions (subject to the 2% floor).
It’s important to keep in mind that the moves that you make this year might reduce your tax now - but you might have an adverse impact on next year’s income tax by doing so. It will pay to run the calculations based on what you know about this year’s tax and next year’s tax to make sure that it is in your best interest to do this.
Here’s how it might play out: if you prepaid your next year’s real estate tax during this year, it might reduce your deductions below the Standard Deduction - which could be a good thing. In doing this, you would get to use the Standard Deduction to increase your tax deductions on next year’s return when you specifically reduced your deductions for that year by prepaying the deductible real estate tax in during this year. In this fashion you might be making the most of the standard deduction and your itemized deductions year after year - one year using the “stacked” deductions, the next using the standard deduction.
These prepayment options could have a negative affect if you are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Prepaying your state tax, mortgage interest and some medical expenses might trigger or cause an increase in AMT. One tactic that you might consider is selling a taxable investment that has an inherent loss; this is especially useful if you’ve sold another investment at some point in the tax year that has resulted in a taxable gain. Losses can be used to offset those capital gains dollar for dollar, and an additional $3,000 in capital losses can be used to reduce your ordinary income as well.
You can also make up for underpayment of estimated tax by taking a withdrawal from an IRA (especially if you’re over age 59½) and having tax withheld from the withdrawal. This can also be accomplished by having more tax withheld from your paycheck if you’re still working, by filing a new W4. Another significant move you can make includes the Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA, 401(k) or 403(b) - allowing you to bypass recognizing that income, including your RMD. This can only be done if you’re at least age 70½ and subject to Required Minimum Distributions. The charity receives a contribution, and you get to lower your year-end balance in your account, therefore reducing your RMD for next year.  For more details on this, you should check out the IRA Owner's Manual.
You can also delay your first RMD (if you reached age 70½ this year) until as late as April 1 of next year, although that will mean you have to take two RMDs next year. But in some circumstances that may be the better option.
You can also make a deductible contribution to your IRA, if you qualify - but you don’t have to do that before the end of the year, you have until April 15 to do that.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of year-end tax moves, just several of the more prominent ones. Hopefully you’ll find what you need here to help with your year-end tax plans.

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