FACTBOX-Soccer-African Nations Cup finalists Ivory Coast

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Factbox on African Nations Cup finalists Ivory Coast ahead of this year's tournament in South Africa from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10:
Previous appearances in African Nations Cup finals: 19
Best performances: Winners in 1992; Runners-up in 2006 and 2012
FIFA world ranking Dec 2012: 14
Coach:
Sabri Lamouchi had no previous coaching experience when the Ivorians surprisingly installed him last May, sacking Francis Zahoui even though he had led them into the finals of the last Nations Cup. The new coach has gone unbeaten in his first six games in charge. Lamouchi is a former France international who played at Euro 96 and was on the books at AJ Auxerre, Monaco, Paris St Germain, Parma and Inter Milan.
Key players:
Didier Drogba (Shanghai Shenhua). Age: 34. Pos: Forward
This is the last chance for Drogba to win the elusive Nations Cup after twice finishing runner-up. He missed a penalty in the 2012 final and the decisive kick in the shootout to decide the 2006 title in Egypt, but he did score from the spot to deliver the Champions League to Chelsea in May. He has 56 goals in 89 appearances for the Ivorians.
Yaya Toure (Manchester City). Age: 29. Pos: Midfielder
Winner of the African Footballer of the Year award for 2011 and 2012, Toure commands a massive physical presence in the centre of midfield. He has had a nomadic career, playing at clubs in seven countries before his move after the 2010 World Cup to England. Part of the Manchester City team that won the Premier League last May.
Gervinho (Arsenal). Age: 25. Pos: Forward
Gervais Yao Kouassi was the big star of the French league in 2011, leading unfashionable Lille to the title and earning himself a lucrative transfer to England, but he has been inconsistent at Arsenal and earned an unwanted reputation for his foibles in front of goal. This will be his fourth appearance at the Nations Cup finals with the highlight being his semi-final goal against Mali last year.
Prospects
The Ivorians will start as favourites again for the title, as they have been for the last four tournaments. Each time they have come up short and the burden of expectation is potentially producing a mental block. Their squad is the strongest at the tournament.

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FACTBOX-Soccer-African Nations Cup finalists Algeria

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Factbox on African Nations Cup finalists Algeria ahead of this year's tournament in South Africa from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10:
Previous appearances in African Nations Cup finals: 14
Best performances: Winners in 1990; Runners-up in 1980
FIFA world ranking Dec 2012: 19
Coach:
Vahid Halilhodzic is a former Yugoslavia international who moved to France during his playing days and stayed for a coaching career at OSC Lille, Stade Rennes and Paris St Germain. The 60-year-old coached the Ivory Coast at the 2010 Nations Cup and lost his job after they were eliminated in the quarter-finals. Sven Goran Eriksson took his place for the World Cup in South Africa.
Key players:
Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia). Age: 23. Pos: Midfielder
Named Algeria's Footballer of the Year for 2012 for his performances at club level in Spain and for Algeria, for whom he debuted in late 2011 after first playing for France at under-21 level. An attacking midfielder whose career started at Grenoble.
Foued Kadir (Olympique Marseille). Age: 29. Pos: Midfielder
Signed by Marseille at the start of the month on a three-and-a-half-year deal from Valenciennes. Was among a wave of French-born players called up by Algeria just before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where he played all three games for the north Africans.
Djamel Mesbah (AC Milan). Age: 28. Pos: Defender
One of 10 players in the Algerian squad born in the country, although he grew up in France and started his professional career across the border in Switzerland. Joined AC Milan from Lecce last January on a four-year deal but has not been able to command a regular first-team place at the club.
Prospects
Algeria have a sparkling generation of talented individuals but the challenge is moulding them into an effective unit. The side have suffered from inconsistency but are beginning to attain more stability and have resultantly risen up the FIFA standings to become the second-best ranked African country. Few give them a chance, however, of verifying that position in South Africa. (Compiled by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)

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FACTBOX-Soccer-African Nations Cup finalists Togo

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Factbox on African Nations Cup finalists Togo ahead of this year's tournament in South Africa from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10:
Previous appearances African Nations Cup finals: 7
Best performance: Never got past the first round
FIFA world ranking Dec 2012: 71
Coach:
Didier Six has had a tempestuous tenure in charge of Togo, having to deal with player strikes and his own battle to get wages paid by his employers. It has been a heady first year in his first major coaching job but he did help Togo to secure qualification by edging out Gabon. The 58-year-old was in the French squad that won the 1984 European championship and played club soccer in England, Germany and Turkey.
Key players:
Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham Hotspur). Age: 28 Pos: Forward
The gangly forward is the country's most recognisable name whose talent has carried the small west African nation to achievements way beyond their potential. Born to immigrant parents from Nigeria, Adebayor went to France aged 17 but his career was floundering at Monaco before he moved to England at the start of 2006.
Serge Gakpe (Nantes). Age: 25. Pos: Forward
Gakpe held out hopes of playing for France but finally agreed to overtures from Togo, where his parents hail from, and debuted for the west Africans in 2009. He started at Monaco and had a loan spell at Standard Liege in Belgium last season.
Alaixys Romao (Lorient). Age: 28. Pos: Midfielder
A former French youth international who is the busy engine room of the Togo side. He was a member of the squad that went to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany but threatened to pull out of the upcoming tournament in South Africa in solidarity with Adebayor over unpaid bonuses.
Prospects
Togo have been in turmoil in the build-up to the tournament, over the availability of the talismanic Adebayor. He was finally persuaded to play by the Togo president but did not participate in the pre-tournament preparations. Drawn in a tough group with Ivory Coast, Algeria and Tunisia, Togo look likely to keep up their record of never having got to knockout stages of the tournament. (Compiled by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing By Alison Wildey)

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Jimmy Dushku: The 25-year-old who is North Korea's one true Twitter friend

Mother Jones takes a look at a globetrotting young investor who's the only American — and the only human being — Pyongyang follows
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt capped a controversial four-day visit to North Korea on Thursday with a call for the country's censorship-happy communist government to give its people access to the internet, or face further economic decline due to the country's global isolation. It was a strong message from one of the web's most powerful figures, although North Korea watchers seem pretty confident the country's young leader, Kim Jong Un, will ignore it. There's one American, however, Pyongyang does appear to listen to. That would be Jimmy Dushku, a young investor who is one of exactly three Twitter users Kim's government follows on Twitter. What's the story behind this unlikely online bromance? Here, a guide:
Who is Jimmy Dushku?
He's a 25-year-old financial whiz kid from Austin, Texas. Dushku, who also goes by the nicknames "Jimmer" and "Jammy," started a website development business when he was 14, according to Mother Jones, and he parlayed his early earnings into investments that now include everything from construction projects in Europe to real estate in Texas to mines in South America. He's also a rabid Coldplay fan, and when he isn't jetting around the world, he says he likes to play Rachmaninoff on his piano and zoom around on his Ducati Monster motorcycle.
SEE MORE: North Korea's rocket launch: 3 consequences
So how did he become buddies with North Korea?
Dushku tells Asawin Suebsaeng at Mother Jones he's not really sure. "People always ask me how it happened, and I honestly can't remember," he says. "It started sometime back in 2010. I was initially surprised." North Korea followed him, he followed North Korea "out of courtesy." He tweeted back, "Hello my friend," and a relationship was born. Then, the North Korean government, which has piled up some 11,000 followers in two-and-a-half years on Twitter, abruptly whittled down the number of accounts it follows, leaving just three. Dushku made the cut (along with a Vietnam account and another official North Korean handle).
What has Dushku gotten from the relationship?
Death threats, for one thing. Not long after he linked up with North Korea's account, which goes by @uriminzok (or "our nation"), Dushku says he started getting angry messages from exiles and South Koreans. Since then, he has mostly kept a low profile, just to be safe, although he does occasionally grant interviews to foreign publications. For its part, North Korea gets a rare glimpse at the outside world through Dushku, as his is the only account North Korea follows that is regularly updated — the other two haven't tweeted in months. He's also the only human being in the bunch.
Will @JimmyDushku and @uriminzok ever meet in real life?
That's always the question for acquaintances who meet online, isn't it? Dushku says his friendly relationship has won him a standing offer to visit North Korea. Casual observers, however, advise him to proceed with caution. "Am I the only one thinking they picked some random guy so they can lure him into North Korea and use him as a political prisoner/bargaining chip?" one commenter at Gizmodo said. Another suggests that Dushku play it cool, without making Pyongyang angry, saying, "Never unfollow anybody with nuclear weapons."

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What would your signature look like if Jack Lew wrote it? (Interactive)

White House chief of staff Jack Lew's signature has been ridiculed as nothing more than a series of childish loops—a nontrivial point, given that President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Lew as the new Treasury secretary, meaning his signature will adorn new U.S. currency.
Now, Yahoo News exclusively brings you the Jack Lew Signature Generator. Just type in your name, hit the button, and see what your name would look like in his, er, signature style.

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Gasoline prices predicted to fall in 2013

NEW YORK (AP) — At least gasoline should cost you less in 2013.
Hamburger, health care and taxes are all set to take a bigger bite out of the family budget this year. But drivers' annual gas bills are expected to drop for the first time in four years.
Forecasters say ample oil supplies and weak U.S. demand will keep a lid on prices. The lows will be lower and the highs won't be so high compared with a year ago. The average price of a gallon of gasoline will fall 5 percent to $3.44, according to the Energy Department.
"Everything is lining up to lead to softer prices this year," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.
That would still be the third-highest average price ever. But a discount of 19 cents per gallon from 2012 would save the typical household $205 this year and free up $25 billion that could go instead to restaurants, malls or movie theaters — the kind of consumer spending that accounts for 70 percent of American economic activity.
"It's a little benefit to the economy, and it's a little more reason the Fed doesn't have to worry about inflation," said James Hamilton, an economist at the University of California at San Diego who studies energy prices.
Forecasters caution that they can't predict other factors like Middle East tensions, refinery problems or hurricanes along the U.S. Gulf Coast — in other words, the same events that caused gasoline prices to spike in 2011 and 2012. Any or all of those troubles could crop up again in 2013 and push pump prices above last year's record average of $3.63 a gallon.
The government expected gas to average about $3 during 2011. Then came the Arab Spring, which included the shutdown of Libya's oil production. Oil prices shot up, and gasoline averaged $3.53 for the year. The government's forecast for last year also turned out to be too low, by 18 cents per gallon.
And, Hamilton said, consumer spending might not see a boost from lower gasoline prices because most Americans will be paying higher taxes. The expiration of last year's payroll tax reduction will cost an extra $579 for households making $40,000 to $50,000 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan Washington research group.
But after average gas prices rose in 2010, 2011, and 2012, a little relief will be welcome in 2013.
Gas prices set records each of the past two years for a few reasons. Global demand has risen as the developing economies of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East burn more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. At the same time, unrest in the Middle East has sparked fears of widespread supply disruptions in a region that produces a quarter of the world's oil. That makes traders willing to pay higher prices up front for oil as a way to protect against possible dramatic price spikes in the future.
In the U.S. last year, several refineries and pipelines had problems that reduced gasoline supplies, especially on the West Coast and in the Midwest, helping to push pump prices even higher.
This year, global oil demand is expected to rise slightly again, but increased production, especially in the U.S., should keep supplies ample. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said this week that American production will grow next year by 900,000 barrels per day, the nation's biggest single-year increase ever. By 2014, U.S. production will reach its highest level since 1988.
At the same time, U.S. gasoline consumption is back down to 2002 levels because of more fuel-efficient cars and the tepid economy. It isn't expected to rise this year or next, according to the Energy Department.
That means the U.S. will need to import less oil, which will increase global supplies and help tamp down prices somewhat.
The current average retail price of gasoline is $3.31 per gallon, 6 cents lower than last year, according to AAA, OPIS and Wright Express. AAA predicts gas won't surpass $3.80 a gallon this year.
The peak last year was $3.94, reached in April. The auto club also says average pump prices could drop as low as $3.20, a level that the country hasn't seen since February 2011.
Tom Kloza of OPIS expects price differences between regions of the country will remain large, and local prices could be volatile as supplies build and dwindle. In Utah, drivers are paying $2.88 per gallon on average, while in New York drivers are paying $3.75. Just in the last four months, gasoline supplies on the West Coast fell to their lowest level in a generation, then rose to where they are now, their highest level in a generation.
AAA forecasts the national average will peak between $3.60 and $3.80 in the spring, then drop to between $3.20 and $3.40 by mid-summer. It will rise again during the hurricane season along the Gulf Coast, the nation's oil-refining hub, before moving lower toward the end of the year.
It's that up-and-down movement that will dictate drivers' moods. Drivers tend to remember what they paid for their last fill-up — not that they may have paid a little less a year ago, Hamilton said.
"People have a short reference point," he said.

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New York City should hike taxes on big business-comptroller

(Reuters) - New York City's top financial officer and possible contender for mayor in 2013, John Liu, proposed on Thursday tax hikes for big businesses and an end to Madison Square Garden's $15 million annual property tax exemption.
The proposals by New York City Comptroller John Liu include tax hikes on private equity firms, which would help offset his plan for $500 million in tax breaks and lowered fines for 90 percent of the city's small businesses.
Liu is expected to vie for the Democratic mayoral nomination for the election in November 2013.
The city could end tax breaks for big companies - more than $250 million of which were handed out last year, Liu said.
The city could also eliminate its $15 million annual property tax exemption for Madison Square Garden, the indoor arena in midtown Manhattan that's home to the New York Knicks basketball team. Madison Square Garden has been exempt from paying taxes on real property since 1982 under New York state law.
The arena is owned by The Madison Square Garden Co, which also owns the Knicks and other professional sports teams. The company also owns Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and others venues, as well as television networks.
Liu also proposed examining tax breaks for special interests. Insurance companies, for instance, have not paid the general corporation tax since 1974, at a cost of $300 million annually to the city, he said.
Private equity firms could also start paying the unincorporated business tax for carried interest or gains from assets being held for investment. The exemption costs New York City about $200 million a year, Liu said.
Liu's package would use the revenue generated by those measures to offset his plan to ease the tax burden for small businesses.
He proposed ending the city's general corporation tax for all businesses with liabilities under $5,000 -- about 240,000 business in the city, or 85 percent of those that currently pay the tax.
His plan would also reduce some fines, as well as exempt businesses that make less than $250,000 in annual income from the city's unincorporated business tax.
The proposals would have to be approved by the governor and state legislature after a request by the city council.
The city is facing a possible $2.7 billion gap in fiscal 2014 that could grow to $3.8 billion the following year, Liu said.

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Republicans push own "fiscal cliff" plan; talks frozen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the Congress pushed ahead on Thursday with a "fiscal cliff" plan that stands no chance of becoming law as time runs short to reach a deal with President Barack Obama to avert a Washington-induced economic recession.
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B" to limit income-tax increases to the wealthiest sliver of the population appeared likely to pass the House on Thursday evening after it narrowly cleared a procedural hurdle in the afternoon.
However, Obama has vowed to veto the plan, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will not bring it up for a vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. White House spokesman Jay Carney called it a "multi-day exercise in futility."
Still, passage of Plan B could give Boehner the political cover he needs to strike a deal that would break with decades of Republican anti-tax orthodoxy.
"Time's running short. I'm going to do everything I can to protect as many Americans from an increase in taxes as I can," Boehner told a news conference.
Though it does not raise taxes on as many affluent Americans as Obama wants, the bill would put Republicans on record as supporting a tax increase on those who earn more than $1 million per year - a position the party opposed only weeks ago.
That could make it easier eventually to split the difference with Obama, who wants to lower the threshold to households that earn more than $400,000 annually. Obama also faces resistance on his left flank from liberals who oppose cuts to popular benefit programs, which Republicans say must be part of any deal.
Obama and Boehner will need to engage in more political theater to get lawmakers in both parties to sign on to the painful concessions that will have to be part of any deal to avert the cliff and rein in the national debt, analysts say.
"They are now in the mode where they have to demonstrate how hard they're trying to get everything they can," said Joe Minarik, a former Democratic budget official now with the Committee For Economic Development, a centrist think tank.
Even as he pressured Obama and the Democratic Senate to approve his plan, Boehner indicated that he was not willing to walk away from the bargaining table.
"The country faces challenges, and the president and I, in our respective roles, have a responsibility to work together to get them a result," Boehner said.
TIME RUNNING OUT
Obama and Boehner aim to reach a deal before the end of the year, when taxes will automatically rise for nearly all Americans and the government will have to scale back spending on domestic and military programs. The $600 billion hit to the economy could push the U.S. economy into recession, economists say.
Investors so far have assumed the two sides will reach a deal, but concerns over the fiscal cliff have weighed on markets in recent weeks. The S&P 500 index of U.S. stocks was up 0.4 percent in Thursday trading, despite a round of strong data on economic growth and housing.
"The closer we get to the end of the year without a deal, the more optimism is going to evaporate," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital in New York.
Shares crept up after Boehner said he was prepared to work with Obama to prevent the fiscal cliff from kicking in.
Lawmakers are eager to wrap up their work and return home for the Christmas holiday, but congressional leaders kept the door open for last-minute action.
The Senate was expected to leave town on Thursday or Friday, but Reid said it could return next week to vote on any deal.
Boehner indicated the House would stay in session after Thursday's vote, scheduled for 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 GMT on Friday).
Several influential conservative groups have condemned Plan B, and some Republicans are expected to vote against it. But passage appeared likely after the House narrowly voted by 219 to 197 to bring the bill to the floor for debate.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an influential business group that has often tangled with the Obama administration, offered grudging support.
"We are not comfortable allowing tax increases on anyone in this environment. However, we understand that, at times, politics requires compromise," the Chamber's top lobbyist, Bruce Josten, wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
To placate conservatives, Boehner also scheduled a vote on legislation that would shift $55 billion in scheduled defense cuts to cuts in food and health benefits for the poor and other domestic programs.
That measure also would roll back some of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation reforms of 2010. It is not expected to become law.

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Canada's seven-month budget gap narrows to C$10.6 billion

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's federal budget deficit narrowed in the first seven months of the fiscal year to C$10.57 billion ($10.68 billion) from C$13.90 billion in the same period last year as personal and corporate income tax revenues rose and debt charges were lower.
The monthly shortfall in October was C$1.68 billion, compared with a gap of C$2.13 billion a year earlier, the Department of Finance said in a report on Friday.
The Conservative government in October pushed back by one year, to 2016-17, the date it expects to eliminate the deficit. Most economists believe that if the economy continues to grow, the books could be balanced sooner.
Ottawa has estimated a 2012-13 deficit of C$26 billion, including a C$1 billion cushion for risk.
In the April-October period, revenues increased by 3.6 percent, or C$4.9 billion, from the same period in 2011, pushed up by personal income tax and corporate income tax. Program expenses rose by 2 percent, or C$2.7 billion, on increases in elderly benefits and direct program expenses.
Public debt charges decreased 6.1 percent, or C$1.1 billion, on a lower effective interest rate.

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Paul keeps Clippers on top in Los Angeles battle

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chris Paul and the Clippers maintained a grip on top billing in Los Angeles with a tense 107-102 victory over the Lakers on Friday to cement their status as the city's best team.
Paul withstood a fierce challenge from Kobe Bryant, recording 30 points and 13 assists to Bryant's 38 points, and the Clippers moved further ahead in both the standings and the crosstown rivalry.
"It's a big win because it's a division game," Paul told reporters, after he carried the scoring load in the absence of injured reserve Jamal Crawford (sore foot).
"That was ugly down the stretch and it was all my fault. We had some terrible possessions (late) and made it interesting for the fans."
The Lakers did their best to tear up the script late on by climbing out of a 19-point deficit in the fourth quarter and closing to 99-97 with two minutes remaining.
However, Paul shut the door on the Lakers, scoring the final eight points for his team, including a tough step-back jumper over the outstretched Bryant in the waning moments.
Blake Griffin added 24 points in the winning effort while Dwight Howard put up 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers (15-17), who have lost three of their last four.
FAST BREAK
Despite sharing the Staples Center, the teams have had little else in common this season as the Clippers (26-8) have raced toward the top of the West while the Lakers are struggling to find an identity under new coach Mike D'Antoni.
The team is just 10-12 since D'Antoni took over.
"It's going to take time and we don't have a lot of it," said Lakers point guard Steve Nash, who finished with 12 points and 10 assists. "You just stick with it."
The Clippers ran off a franchise-record 17 straight wins before losing their previous two games but they quickly regained their form and grabbed a 10-point halftime lead on the Lakers.
The athletic Clippers used their defense to ignite their fast break and push the game's energy with crowd-pleasing dunks.
After their lead swelled to 19 early in the fourth, the Lakers chipped away behind Bryant, who delivered 16 points in the final quarter, to raise the stakes in his duel with Paul.
The two All Stars traded shots all night, with Bryant throwing down a ferocious dunk over Paul in the first quarter, but the Clippers point guard got the final say with a critical jumper and six free throws over the last minute.
"Chris made some amazing shots. It was a great matchup of two of the best in the game," D'Antoni said. "We had a shot at the end and we just didn't do it."

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