Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Apple sued over hold obvious infringement

With the open recover of the Apple iPad this Saturday, Elan Microelectronics, a Taiwanese chipmaker, is suing Apple, claiming most Apple products infringeits multitouch patents.

Elan has asked the International Trade Commission (ITC) to anathema imports of the iPhone, iPod Touch, MacBook, Magic Mouse and even the yet-to-be-released iPad.

"We have taken the step of filing the ITC censure as a delay of the efforts to make the obvious rights opposite Apples ongoing infringement. A move in the ITC offers a discerning and in effect approach for Elan to make the patent," the association pronounced in a statement.

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Elan says it owns patents covering "touch-sensitive submit inclination with the capability to acknowledge the coexisting participation of dual or some-more fingers," that is just what these Apple products do. Apple has not expelled a grave reply to the authorised box yet.

This isnt the initial time Elan has sued over the mutltitouch patent. Two years ago it sued Synaptics in a identical case. Synaptics finished up entering a chartering understanding with Elan, but the not a foregone end that Apple will do the same thing given Apple is no foreigner to enlarged authorised battles.

There is additionally an component of irony in Apple being sued for multitouch obvious transgression since the association not long ago brought a identical fit opposite smartphone builder HTC. Apple pronounced HTC phones with the Android handling complement infringedover twenty Apple patents, together with a little that had to do with multitouch interfaces.

The authorised box wouldnt affect sales of pre-ordered iPads slated to gosale Saturday, most of that have already shipped.

Click for associated contentWant to see iPad? So do Apple store employeesiPad could be Kindles initial big hazard in e-books7 questions about Apples fit opposite HTC

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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Financials propel marketplace

NEW YORK -- A convene in monetary bonds Thursday helped the marketplace magnify the grub higher for a third day.

The Standard & Poors 500 privileged an critical jump watched by traders when it sealed only on top of the January climb to set a 17-month high. That could move somehesitant buyers in to the market.

Financial shares rose after Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit pronounced the bank was on a trail toward "sustained profitability" as it sells off unsure assets. The bank has been the hardest strike by the monetary predicament so the upbeat comment helped swell expectations about the economy. The batch rose 5.6 percent.

Financials" stand helped equivalent regard about a spike in acceleration in China. The nation pronounced the acceleration rate rose to 2.7 percent in Feb from 1.5 percent in January. A high climb in prices could force China to lift seductiveness rates. That, in turn, could delayed one of the worlds fastest-growing economies and put a check on a tellurian recovery.

Jim Dunigan, handling senior manager of investments at PNC Wealth Management, pronounced he expects that China will be means to enclose prices for now.

"We"ll see hints of acceleration here and there but I dont think we"ll see that complaint for a while," he said.

In the U.S., the Labor Department pronounced workers filing for stagnation benefits for the initial time fell by 6,000 to 462,000 last week.

Economists were presaging a somewhat bigger drop, according to Thomson Reuters.

The inform showed a small easing in the work market, but it didnt point to the enlarge in employing that investors wish to see. Stocks have traded in a slight range given the Labor Department pronounced Friday that employers cut fewer jobs in Feb than analysts expected. The marketplace is seeking for some-more signs of progress.

The weeks still trade comes as investors see for some-more signs about the citation of the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial normal rose 44.51, or 0.4 percent, to 10,611.84. It is down 1.1 percent from the new high Jan. 19.

The S&P 500 modernized 4.63, or 0.4 percent, to 1,150.24, on top of the Jan. nineteen close of 1,150.23. The index right away stands at the top turn given Oct. 1, 2008.

The Nasdaq rose 9.51, or 0.4 percent, to 2,368.46 for the sixth true advance.

Crude oil rose 2 cents to solve at $82.11 per tub on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

David Joy, arch marketplace strategist at RiverSource Investments, pronounced he was tender that traders shrugged off the enlarge in Chinas acceleration in a week with couple of mercantile reports. Investors mostly turn nervous when there is small new news. That can lead them to sell stocks.

"The judgment of an mercantile liberation is garnering a small some-more credibility," he said. "We"ve arrived at a place where bonds are sincerely valued."

The Russell 2000 rose 2.29, or 0.3 percent, to 677.22.

Britains FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent, Germanys DAX index slipped 0.1 percent, and Frances CAC-40 fell 0.4 percent. Japans Nikkei batch normal rose 1 percent.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Using a superficial knowledge of neon can lift the dullest room out of the winter ennui

When majority people think of neon, visions of Eighties Day-Glo wardrobe and smiley faces open to mind. But how about neon in interiors? Somehow that doesn"t receptive to advice as if it would work in the homes.

And yet, here we are at the commencement of a new decade with a superficial knowledge of neon looming in the shops.

Neon is not for timorous violets - rather it"s for people who wish to have a confidant statement.

Spoon club stool, 280, Heal"s, heals.co.uk Abode Living Briar lampshade, 89, Clarissa Hulse at Abode Living, abodeliving.co.uk

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Friday, August 27, 2010

Wayne Rooney declared in United group to face Bayern Munich Manchester United

James Ducker & ,}

Wayne Rooney has proposed Manchester United"s Champions League quarter-final, second leg opposite Bayern Munich at Old Trafford this evening.

Despite Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, claiming yesterday that he would not risk Rooney, the England striker has been upheld fit to begin as his side see to overturn a 2-1 deficit.

Ferguson pronounced on Friday that Rooney would be out for "two to three" weeks after pang teenager vinculum repairs to his right ankle in the initial leg in Germany but, carrying recovered far quicker than expected, United believed he was ready to play.

Rooney is accepted to have been disturbing Ferguson to fool around for multiform days and was told if he could infer his fitness in precision he would be considered for selection.

Related LinksFerguson manners out shopping debauch United counterclaim contingency mount up opposite BayernMultimediaMANCHESTER UTD v BAYERN: live from 7.30pm JAMES DUCKER: United counterclaim contingency climb to occasion

The preference is a risk, however. If Rooney suffers a regularity of the complaint it might keep him out of critical games in the Barclays Premier League run-in, a scenario both Ferguson and Fabio Capello, the England manager, will dearly hope to avoid.

Rooney"s significance to England is as good as it is to United and Capello will be fervent to safeguard the player"s fitness is not compromised prior to the World Cup finals in South Africa this summer.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

iPad initial reviews are certain as Apple prepares for eReader fight with Amazon

The initial central reviews of Apple"s most puffed-up and publicised iPad have come in... and they are surprisingly positive.

Many tool gurus derided the inscription computer at the Jan launch, as a dense bigger version of the iPhone with couple of new features.

Now only dual days prior to the U.S. launch, reviewers have been means to prize the inclination from the notoriously sly Apple for hands-on testing.

Amazon"s Kindle is by far the best-selling eReader, however Apple could infer to be a estimable contender

This is really opposite from the customary edition pricing, as used by Amazon. In this version publishers sell books at a indiscriminate rate. Then Amazon creates a distinction by imprinting up the books on top of this.

John Makinson, Chief Executive of Penguins Books, said: "We have all struggled in this industry to find an online indication that functions successfully in conditions of calm and the consumer"s inclination to pay.

"I think myself that the iPad represents the initial genuine event to emanate a paid indication that will be tasteful to consumers."

Penguin will share thirty per cent of the income from eBook sales for iPads with Apple. Mr Makinson pronounced this compared to the 50 per cent publishers typically paid to book retailers together with Amazon.

Twitterers go offline in the name of gift

Irene Kuan TORONTO Wed March 24, 2010 3:52pm EDT A Somali interloper lady walks in front of a blackboard in a classroom at Hagadera stay in Dadaab in Kenya

A Somali interloper lady walks in front of a blackboard in a classroom at Hagadera stay in Dadaab in Kenya"s northeastern province, Jun 4, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Finbarr O"Reilly

TORONTO (Reuters) - Thousands of Twitterers worldwide will put their fingers to rest and accumulate offline on Thursday in the name of charity.

Technology&&&&Lifestyle

People in over 200 cities worldwide will experience in the second annual "Twestival," that this year aims to lift supports for education.

"It"s a flattering viral materialisation that happened," pronounced Sarah Prevette, lead organizer for Twestival Toronto.

The eventuality is orderly by thousands of volunteers globally, and internal businesses account the parties, where social-media enthusiasts dance, association and network.

Funds lifted for "Twestival," around corporate sponsorship, sheet sales or luminary eBay auctions, will good Concern Worldwide, that offers simple preparation programs in bankrupt nations.

"Education is that one apparatus that we can give someone, and believe unequivocally does commission and that was something that unequivocally struck a chord with volunteers globally," pronounced Prevette. "It usually costs $74 to send a initial propagandize kid to propagandize for a year in these nations."

The initial Twestival eventuality lifted over $250,000 for purify H2O projects in Uganda, Ethiopia and India.

According to Twestival"s website, over 4,000 people have purchased tickets to Thursday"s events.

(Reporting by Irene Kuan; Editing by Eric Beech)

Technology Lifestyle for acne doctors to help adolescents to treat their acne

Monday, August 23, 2010

Stephens Supply cuts behind Stock

In Fuquay-Varina, a Broad Street establishment is scaling at the at the back of the operation as the economy takes the fee on nonetheless an one some-more internal business.

Stephens Supply Co. will close down dual of the 3 groups today.

The association has been handling for 75 years and began as a hardware and feed store, pronounced CEO Wayne Carver.

Over the years, it combined construction reserve in a integrate of warehouses at the at the back of the store and a lighting multiplication opposite the street.

After today, usually the hardware storewhich is right away an ACE and is at 405 Broad St.will remain.

"We"re going at the at the back of to the roots," Carver said. "Theres only not a lot of construction wake up right now."

The lighting core will be sealed for a week and afterwards proceed a going-out-of-business sale on Thursday. The construction supply commercial operation will simply close, with Stephens offered the materials at the at the back of to vendors or to alternative companies.

After that, Stephens will see to franchise both spaces and an one some-more room down the street. In all, the some-more than 60,000 block feet of space.

The companys payroll will go from 55 to 15.

"We only motionless that the generation of the downturn had been as well prolonged and we dont see any finish to it," Carver said. "We only motionless it was not unsentimental to cling to it out for the return" of the construction business.

In Wake Forest, an one some-more eccentric commercial operation owners is perplexing to cling to on.

Jimmy Keith operates the Keiths Service Station at 13041 Falls of Neuse Road, nearby the intersection with Old N.C. 98.

It has been in the Keith family for 75 years and was anExxon hire until recently.

However, about a year ago, Keith had to take his gas armoured column out of the belligerent and stop offered gas. Since then, commercial operation in his little store has forsaken by roughly half. Now with plans to reroute N.C. 98, Keith is fearful his commercial operation will humour even more.

"We"ve got a little old faithfuls," pronounced Keith, who is 59. "But if you"re not offered gas, people are not going to stop."

So, Keith is perplexing to progress sales by adding to his offerings.

He has reopened the lunch opposite that used to work at the at the back of the family store. It has been renamed JKs Lunch Room.

Buying closer to the main road, he says, is not an option.

"A store similar to this on a bustling highwaytheres no revelation how most it would cost," he said. "We"re only not peaceful to do that right now."

Other items: DollarWise is open in Forestville Crossing at U.S. 401 and Forestville Road in northeast Raleigh. ... Curves health bar is open at 746 Haddon Hall Drive in Apex. ... Rudinos Pizza & Grinders Sports Corner is open at Edwards Mill and Duraleigh roads in the Olde Raleigh Village Shopping Center. ... My Cup Overflows Tea Cottage is open at 5024 Old Wake Forest Road in Raleigh. The store sells present equipment and offers tea service. It is open Tuesday by Saturday.

sue.stock, 919-829-4649 or takingstock.newsobserver.com

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Scientists clear key chemical substance utilizing newly combined cool method

Taurine/alpha-ketoglutarate dioxygenase, well known as TauD, is a bacterial chemical substance that is critical in metabolism. Enzymes in this family correct DNA, clarity oxygen and assistance furnish antibiotics.

Specifically, the MSU group was meddlesome in how iron and oxygen atoms reacted together in the enzyme. Understanding how TauD works, that serves as a indication for most alternative proteins, has implications in the systematic and healing fields, pronounced Robert Hausinger, MSU highbrow of microbiology and molecular genetics.

This is a extended chemical substance family with identical mechanisms, he said. Understanding how TauD functions sheds light on how most alternative enzymes duty from germ to humans. This can be germane to a far-reaching accumulation of necessary enzymes of healing and rural interest.

For example, Hausinger said, bargain how the chemical substance functions can assistance scientists pattern inhibitors to forestall it from you do the job, that is a key step in preventing diseases. Also, bargain how the iron inserts oxygen atoms in to alternative molecules provides discernment in to how enzymes metabolize the infancy of healing drug or environmental pollutants in the human body.

As bargain how enzymes work can be really formidable -- such reactions mostly are complex, fast and need mixed stairs -- the MSU group grown a new process to follow the TauD reaction. The formidable piece for researchers was to delayed down the greeting sufficient that the particular stairs can be observed; one approach to delayed down an enzymatic greeting is to cool it.

The group used a tide of cold nitrogen gas to delayed down the greeting at -36 C (-33 F). To forestall frozen and to keep the greeting going, the scientists used ethylene glycol -- the same antifreeze that goes in vehicles.

Once the greeting started, the group used lasers -- in an modernized process called Raman spectroscopy -- to follow the vibrations of iron and oxygen atoms in TauD to establish how the greeting progressed. They found never seen prior to stairs in the TauD reaction, overturning required thought.

The plan was a partnership in between the laboratories of Hausinger and Denis Proshlyakov of MSUDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, with await from MSU co-worker Piotr Grzyska and Evan Appelman of the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago.

The research, upheld by the National Institutes of Health, was not long ago published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

How to Shop for a New 3-D HDTV

If youve watched 3-D movies such as "Avatar" or the new "Alice inWonderland" in theaters and are hungry to reconstruct that immersiveexperience at home, you might wish to take a closer see at the new 3-DTVs that are commencement to strike store shelves.

Just this week, Samsungs 46" 3-D TV arrived at retailers opposite thecountry, the initial 3-D high-definition TV accessible to the public.

Sony 3-D models are additionally accessible for preorder now, and Panasonic,LG and Toshiba are scheduled to recover their own sets after this year.The TV investigate organisation iSupply forecasts 3D TVs will authority a pricepremium of $600 to $700 compared to 2D LCD-TVs utilizing Light Emitting Diode (LED) backlighting.

Scott Birnbaum, clamp boss for Samsung LCD commercial operation toldTechNewsDaily that the tip to selecting a 3-D TV is seeking at howthe TV displays regular, 2-D content. He urges shoppers to takeadvantage of the corresponding agreement of televisions in stores andask the salespeople to run a little 2-D calm as well as 3-D.

"Just have them spin on a little 2-D calm and see what it lookslike," Birnbaum said. "If 2-D doesnt see as great as 3-D, afterwards youknow it doesnt have the faster modernise rates. You can essentially telljust by seeking at the TV content."

Refresh rate refers to the series of new images displayed per secondto grasp well-spoken suit and is totalled in hertz. A higher refreshrate is needed for a picturesque 3-D display. Look for "true" 240 Hztechnology, Birnbaum said.

Birnbaum pronounced to beware a little 3-D televisions that insert blackframes to grasp the higher 240 Hz modernise rate, that can outcome in ajumpy picture, and in a little cases, eye tired and headaches.

Even though the tangible calm is usually entrance in at 60 frames persecond, loyal 240 HZ record inserts 3 one some-more frames of colorcontent, not black frames, to broach a well-spoken display.

Other 3-D selling considerations

As with unchanging TVs, the bigger a 3-D TV shade is, the moreimmersive the experience will be. But instead of simply shopping thelargest TV set the store has, initial cruise the distance of the room wherethe TV will be housed.

Most peoples vital bedrooms are set up so that their couches areabout ten feet afar from the screen, so a shade distance of at slightest 40inches will yield an immersive 3-D experience, Birnbaum said.Shoppers will find 3-D HDTV trimming in distance from 40 inches to 60inches, as new models are expelled via the year. As a generalrule, cruise a distance up from a 2D TVto minimize marginal distractions and thereby raise the 3-D senseof realism. For example, if youre replacing a 40" or 42" prosaic row TVin the vital room, move up to a 46" 3-D model.

Other accessories

Also, dont dont think about to squeeze new HDMI 1.4A cables, expelled thisweek by HDMI Licensing. These new cables concede 3-D TVs and otherdevices such as wire boxes and Blu-ray players to verbalise a usual 3-Dlanguage when transmitting and reception 3-D content.

Finally, viewers wouldnt get the dictated 3-D experience but 3-Dglasses, that are sole alone and are mostly compared withparticular models of 3-D TVs.

Birnbaum pronounced he thinks that 3-D TVs will be a big strike withconsumers. "Like the key of color TVs in the 1960s, 3-D TVswill be sparkling sufficient to move family groups and friends together," hesaid.

Recent surveys additionally await Birnbaums prediction. According torecent consult by NDP, a investigate organisation specializing in electronics,one-third of consumers are at slightest "somewhat interested" in purchasinga 3-D TV.

"Manufacturers are counting on 3-D to accelerate the replacementcycle the approach [high-definition] did," pronounced Ross Rubin, executivedirector of industry research at NPD.

Early adopters will see past poignant cost premiums and singular optimized calm in the name of bringing home even some-more of the cinematic experience as they find 3-D capabilities enclosed between alternative reward features.

10 Profound Innovations Ahead How Hollywood converts 2-D Silver in to 3-D Gold 7 Inventions that Changed the World

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Heroes singer visits Japan dolphin track town

March 26, 2010, 12:28 AM EST

TAIJI, Japan (AP) -- "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere and her boyfriend, universe hold up fighter Wladimir Klitschko, perceived a cold accepting Friday in the Japanese fishing encampment of Taiji, where they called for an finish to the annual dolphin hunt.

The luminary integrate arrived in the sunrise with a small organisation of environmental activists.

Panettiere pronounced she longed for to confront the mayor and member from the internal fisheries union, but she and Jeff Pantukhoff, an anti-whaling romantic from the U.S., were shut off by dual officials at the doorway of the locale hall.

"We are perplexing to peacefully come up with improved ideas as to how to beget income and implement the inlet here," Panettiere told reporters. "We"ve been to Taiji prior to and it"s a pleasing place with pleasing wildlife."

The organisation afterwards changed on to the fisheries union, but it was closed. Local fishermen additionally refused to speak to them.

"We only longed for to have a really pacific and loose conversation," Panettiere said.

Her revisit to Taiji comes only weeks after "The Cove," a bloody work of art of Taiji"s dolphin slaughter, won the Oscar for most appropriate documentary.

Fishermen in the encampment on the hilly seashore of southwest Japan cruise the track a unapproachable legacy. But it has prolonged been targeted by hardcore environmentalists and animal lovers, and the Oscar has since the antithesis some-more mainstream attention.

"This is going to be a traveller core for dolphin killings," pronounced internal romantic Steve Thompson, who helped classify the trip.

Panettiere, who plays an very durable cheerleader on the strike U.S. TV array "Heroes," is additionally the mouthpiece for the "Save the Whales Again!" campaign, that wants to hindrance Taiji"s dolphin hunt. The debate cites studies that show dolphin beef contains dangerously high levels of mercury and is vulnerable to eat, and says murdering the animals is vicious and unnecessary.

The 20-year-old singer additionally protested the Taiji track in 2007, when along with five alternative surfers she paddled out in to the inlet where the track takes place in a pacific criticism that was damaged up by fisherman. Scenes from that confront are quickly shown in "The Cove."

The Japanese supervision allows about 19,000 dolphins to be killed each year. Taiji hunts about 2,000 dolphins each year for beef — less than alternative places — but is singled out in piece since of the "oikomi" process of herding and murdering them nearby the shore. Some are prisoner and sole to aquariums and dolphin shows at H2O parks.

Residents once welcomed unfamiliar visitors, but in new years have grown sap of what they feel are biased portrayals and gruesome snapshots shown out of context. Overzealous protesters and photographers are spasmodic approached and scolded by rough-and-tumble locals seeking to urge their town"s reputation.

As the organisation arrived, a lorry of worried nationalists bloody slogans, observant Japan should not be singled out for whaling and dolphin hunts since Westerners "are murdering cows." They additionally demanded President Barrack Obama swallow ones pride for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

There were no clashes in between the environmentalists and the townspeople.

Klitschko, the six-foot, five in. (196 centimeter) heavyweight fighting champion, who only last week available his 48th impressive person in fortifying his WBO and IBF belts, towered over everybody as he sensitively took in the day"s events.

The organisation was due to speak to reporters on a beach in the afternoon, nearby the inlet where the locale herds dolphins to collect them. John Quigley, an "aerial artist" who creates large functions of art that can be noticed from the sky, programmed to have a hulk outline of a dolphin on the sand.

While Panettiere seemed expected to give the one-day criticism a clever broadside boost, a little questioned either it would have any affect on persuading locals to desert their hunt.

"The some-more vigour we put on them, the some-more they will lift behind and cut us off," pronounced Chiho McBennett, a Japanese mom who trafficked with the organisation out of regard over the mercury issue.

,,,

Sunday, August 8, 2010

W.Houses Romer: Too shortly for spending clamp-down

Emily Kaiser and Mark Felsenthal ARLINGTON, Virginia Tue Mar 9, 2010 4:09pm EST Related News Fed"s Evans - long term jobless target creeping upTue, Mar 9 2010White House"s Romer: Spending coming back to lifeTue, Mar 9 2010Economists see Fed rate hike in 6 monthsMon, Mar 8 2010

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Chile bonds climb as upheaval repairs turn clearer

Thu Mar 4, 2010 9:13am EST Related News Chile stocks rise for 1st time after quake, peso upThu, Mar 4 2010Chile reconstruction to take 3-4 years -presidentThu, Mar 4 2010Chile stocks fall for 2nd day after quakeTue, Mar 2 2010Chile stocks fall 1.5 pct after earthquakeMon, Mar 1 2010Chile stocks tumble 1.7 pct on global boursesFri, Feb 5 2010

SANTIAGO, March 4 (Reuters) - Chile"s blue-chip IPSA stockindex .IPSA climbed 0.98 percent to 3,745.35 on Thursday asthe extent of the damage from Saturday"s giant earthquakebecame clearer.

Stocks&&&&Currencies

Traders corrected for steep losses seen in the index, whichfell 3 percent in the previous three sessions, as retailers,forestry companies and steelmakers recovered. (Writing by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Stocks Currencies

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Iran prosecutor warns opposite New Year protests

TEHRAN Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:26am EST Related News Iran"s Mousavi warns over system"s legitimacy waningSat, Feb 27 2010Iran earmarks sites for 10 uranium enrichment plantsMon, Feb 22 2010Iran hails nuclear advance on Revolution DayThu, Feb 11 2010Iran hails nuclear advance on Revolution DayThu, Feb 11 2010Crowds mark Iran Revolution Day, protests expectedThu, Feb 11 2010

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran"s security forces will stop opposition supporters using the Iranian new year in March to stage more anti-government protests, a leading judicial official said on Sunday.

World

Tehran general prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi was speaking after opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on his website on Sunday that the legitimacy of clerical rule was waning due to its "repressive measures."

"Even though some go on trying to agitate the atmosphere in society with statements... they"ve been given the answer by the people," Dolatabadi said in comments on state news agency IRNA.

"We will not witness street demonstrations and we will not allow anyone to come to the streets to disrupt public security without proper permits."

The disputed June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plunged the Islamic Republic into its most serious internal crisis in its 30-year history and created a rift within the ruling establishment.

Hardliners have accused reformist opposition leaders of inciting unrest and called them enemies of God, a crime punishable by death under Iran"s Islamic law.

"Even though threats against the revolution will not come to an end, we will not succumb and certainly one day in the not so distant future despair will take them and they will surrender," Dolatabadi said.

"The file on the election has been closed and law enforcement agencies have been asked to preserve security," he said, referring to often rowdy large street celebrations involving fires and fireworks on the last Tuesday of the Iranian year, March 16.

The Iranian new year begins on March 21.

Opposition supporters have defied government warnings against staging illegal rallies and have sought to hijack official demonstrations to hold anti-government protests.

The domestic strife comes as Iran faces growing Western calls for more sanctions after Ahmadinejad ordered production of higher-grade uranium, stirring fears that Tehran aims to make nuclear bombs, not just fuel for civilian use.

(Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Writing by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Jon Hemming)

World