Casinos fail to reach debt deal

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

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

Mitchell Etess, chief executive of the authority, which owns and operates the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., told The Associated Press on Friday that the dire warning is only a financial requirement of auditors.

"Auditors have no choice," he said. "They must put in that language."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Casinos-fail-to-reach-debt-deal-2433535.php

cma awards 2011 western black rhino western black rhino jefferson county alabama marine corps marine corps veterans day 2011

Myanmar artists test recent freedoms through film (AP)

YANGON, Myanmar ? Artists in Myanmar are testing new freedoms through films shown at a festival that for the first time in the country's recent history were not censored.

"The Art of Freedom Film Festival" began screening films on Saturday that were not approved by the strict Film Censorship Board.

Myanmar's new nominally civilian government has relaxed some draconian security measures, although films are still supposed to pass the censorship board.

The event was organized by comedian Zarganar, film director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Zarganar, who uses one name, was recently released from three years in prison. He described the festival as freedom of expression through film.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111231/ap_on_en_mo/as_myanmar_film_festival

rick perry oops tom bradley penn state tom bradley penn state grace potter grace potter ryan mathews the band perry

Iran navy tests surface-to-air missile in drill

Iranian navy speed boats attend a drill in the sea of Oman, on Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. Iran's navy chief has reiterated for a second time in less than a week that his country can easily close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the passageway through which a sixth of the world's oil flows. (AP Photo/IIPA, Ali Mohammadi)

Iranian navy speed boats attend a drill in the sea of Oman, on Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. Iran's navy chief has reiterated for a second time in less than a week that his country can easily close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the passageway through which a sixth of the world's oil flows. (AP Photo/IIPA, Ali Mohammadi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's navy said Sunday it test-fired an advanced surface-to-air missile during a drill in international waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply.

Iran's state TV said the missile, named Mehrab, or Altar, is designed to evade radar and was developed by Iranian scientists. The report said the missile was tested Sunday but provided no further details.

A leading Iranian lawmaker said the sea maneuvers serve as practice for closing the Strait of Hormuz if the West blocks Iran's oil sales. After top Iranian officials made the same threat a week ago, military commanders emphasized that Iran has no intention of blocking the waterway now.

The exercise covers a 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) stretch of water beyond the Strait of Hormuz, including parts of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

The drill, which could bring Iranian ships into proximity with U.S. Navy vessels that operate in the same area, is Iran's latest show of strength in the face of mounting international criticism over its nuclear program. The West fears Iran's program aims to develop atomic weapons ? a charge Tehran denies, insisting it's for peaceful purposes only.

The 10-day exercise drew significant attention after the Iranian warnings about closing the strait. Iranian military officials later appeared to back away from that threat.

A spokesman for the exercise, Rear Adm. Mahmoud Mousavi, made a similar conciliatory comment on Sunday.

"We won't disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. We are not after this," the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Prominent lawmaker Ismail Kowsari offered a different view. He said the war games are part of Iran's preparations to close the vital waterway if sanctions are imposed.

"Iran's armed forces have practiced operations to close the Strait of Hormuz several times," the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Kowsari as saying Sunday.

"If we feel that the enemies want to prevent our oil exports, definitely we will close the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

Mousavi said the missile that was tested Sunday is one of the newest in the navy's arsenal.

"It's equipped with state-of-the-art technology and a built-in system that enables it to thwart jammers," Mousavi told state TV. One way to deflect surface-to-air missiles is to confuse their guidance systems.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-01-ML-Iran-Navy-Drill/id-ba35a43ac21a4fafb160295292fd3b50

verlander verlander justin verlander pepper spraying cop pepper spraying cop somaya reece padma lakshmi

Egypt's military: On alert for attack on Christians

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

Update at 6:25 p.m. ET: Facebook has apparently taken down the account of at least one group threatening a New Year's attack on Egyptian Christians. An Arab-language Facebook page (not linked to in the story but monitored by msnbc.com reporters) no longer loads.

Original post: The Egyptian military said Friday that it was increasing security at churches across the country before the anniversary of a deadly New Year's attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria.

The heightened state of alert before New Year's celebrations and the Coptic Christmas season came as anonymous threats against the Copts circulated on Facebook.

---

?One of those on Friday threatened a suicide bombing of an unnamed church in Egypt and said that the church's name would be posted at 11:50 p.m. local time Saturday just before the attack. A spokesman for Facebook said it was aware of the threat "and is investigating it."

The Alexandria attack occurred just after midnight Jan. 1?as worshippers left a New Year's Mass. More than 20 people were killed, making it the worst violence against the Christian minority in Egypt in a decade.

The military said that?it would work closely with internal security forces, revolutionary youth groups and various political forces inside Egypt to ensure the safety of Christian worshippers across the country.

In addition to New Year's Eve Masses, Egyptian Copts are preparing for the Orthodox Church's Christmas on Jan. 7. This year's Christmas celebrations and mass at the cathedral in Cairo will be attended by a senior delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood. It's the first time in nearly 30 years that the church has invited the Islamist group -- outlawed during the Mubarak regime -- to attend the Mass and celebrations.

NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin reported from Amman, Jordan. NBC's Jacob Keryakes and msnbc.com's Suzanne Choney contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/30/9837180-egypts-military-on-alert-for-new-years-attack-on-christians

veterans day paterno oakland raiders carson palmer al davis edmund fitzgerald vincent brown

DMR Poll Released (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/181546835?client_source=feed&format=rss

rhodes scholar cranberry sauce recipe mls cup amas 2011 black friday elliot elliot

Video: NASA hopes to answer questions about the Moon

>>> finally tonight here on earth this weekend is all about new year's eve. but for a team of nasa scientists, the focus will be a quarter of a million miles away . they will be monitoring a pair of spacecraft orbiting the moon, hoping to answer some age-old questions in what's being described as the biggest moon mission since man first landed there more than 40 years ago. here's nbc's george lewis .

>> reporter: millions of years ago, earth may have had not one, but two moons. then, according to theory they collided -- an event known as the big splat. that would explain the irregularities on the present day moon. all the valleys on the side we see. all the mountains on the other side.

>> scientists have not had a good way to track that down yet. this is the going of solving that mystery.

>> zero, and liftoff of the delta ii , journey to the center of the moon.

>> reporter: in september, nasa launched two lunar probes aboard the same rocket. they'll chase each other in orbit around the moon to study it from surface to center. the mission will be run from this control room in paspasadena, california. a critical point comes this weekend when the two craft fire to get into orbit around the moon.

>> this is the big crunch time. this weekend is going to be the time when it comes together or falls apart .

>> that's one small step for man --

>> reporter: for nasa it will be the most intense focus on the moon since the days of the apollo program .

>> it's very challenging but we have done a lot of practicing and we're ready to do that.

>> reporter: former astronaut sally ride will organize thousands of middle school students to tell nasa what pictures the spacecraft should take with their on-board cameras.

>> hopefully it will encourage kids to get more involved in science and engineering.

>> reporter: so this weekend while millions are watching the new year's ball drop in times square , nasa scientists will be watching the other illuminated ball that holds so many mysteries. george lewis , nbc news, pasadena, california.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45819973/

iron chef bath and body works coupons jeff probst jeff probst king jong il dead south korea baron davis

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin's take

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://forums.steelersfever.com/showthread.php?t=82283&goto=newpost

china aircraft carrier barbara walters most fascinating person 2011 golden globe nominations los angeles clippers los angeles clippers charlize theron telenav