Eric Prydz Picks a New Year's Eve Playlist

By Dahvi Shira

12/31/2012 at 06:50 PM EST

Unfortunately not everyone can be in Las Vegas when the ball drops this year, but Eric Prydz is bringing the party to PEOPLE.com readers in advance.

The DJ and producer, 36 – best known for his 2004 hit single, "Call on Me" – is playing a three-hour extended set at Surrender Nightclub on Monday, and he's sharing the tracks he's most excited to spin, including songs from his album, Eric Prydz Presents Pryda.

"I love to play on New Year's Eve because it has that special tension in the air," Prydz says. "People are so excited about the new year coming, leaving the old behind and starting fresh. It's also the perfect excuse to blow off some steam after that long Christmas with family. Let's make New Year's Eve 2013 one to remember!"

Recently scoring a Grammy nomination for his remix of M83's "Midnight City," Prydz, who is relocating to Los Angeles, already predicts 2013 "is going to be an amazing year."

As for his evening playlist, he plans to "blend a lot of the highlights from the past year with classics and brand new music set to blow up in 2013."

Check out part of his planned set below:

• Jeremy Olander – "Let Me Feel"
"This tune has spring/summer of 2013 written all over it. It's such a feel good track!"
Listen here

• Fehrplay – "I Can't Stop It"
"Fehrplay had a great year in 2012 and is set to blow up in 2013. This is his forthcoming single on my Pryda Friends imprint. The first time I heard this record, it took me somewhere really nice."
Listen here

• Rone – "Parade (Dominik Eulberg Remix)"
"Every now and then there is a track that comes along and blows your mind. This is one of those tracks. Nine minutes of pure emotion."
Listen here

• Eric Prydz – "Every Day"
"This one has been huge for me this summer and fall. Enough said."
Listen here

• Pachanga Boys – "Time"
"This was the soundtrack of my summer 2012. And I'm sure I'm not alone on that one."
Listen here

• Para One – "When the Night (Breakbot Remix)"
"I've been a fan of Para One's music for many years and this one is no exception. This song has a great retro vibe with a modern touch from Breakbot on this remix."
Listen here

• Pig & Dan – "Savage"
"This is a real club stomper. I can't wait to play this one out."
Listen here

• Pryda – "The End"
"I had to throw this one in. It's one of the biggest releases on Pryda to date."
Listen here

• Green Velvet & Harvard Bass – "Lazer Beams"
"Hit me with those laser beams!"
Listen here.

• Deetron feat. Hercules & Love Affair – "Crave (Deetron cRAVE Dub)"
"This song is a dark, big room destroyer."
Listen here

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Clinton's blood clot an uncommon complication

The kind of blood clot in the skull that doctors say Hillary Rodham Clinton has is relatively uncommon but can occur after an injury like the fall and concussion the secretary of state was diagnosed with earlier this month.

Doctors said Monday that an MRI scan revealed a clot in a vein in the space between the brain and the skull behind Clinton's right ear.

The clot did not lead to a stroke or neurological damage and is being treated with blood thinners, and she will be released once the proper dose is worked out, her doctors said in a statement.

Clinton has been at New York-Presbyterian Hospital since Sunday, when the clot was diagnosed during what the doctors called a routine follow-up exam. At the time, her spokesman would not say where the clot was located, leading to speculation it was another leg clot like the one she suffered behind her right knee in 1998.

Clinton had been diagnosed with a concussion Dec. 13 after a fall in her home that was blamed on a stomach virus that left her weak and dehydrated.

The type of clot she developed, a sinus venous thrombosis, "certainly isn't the most common thing to happen after a concussion" and is one of the few types of blood clots in the skull or head that are treated with blood thinners, said neurologist Dr. Larry Goldstein. He is director of Duke University's stroke center and has no role in Clinton's care or personal knowledge of it.

The area where Clinton's clot developed is "a drainage channel, the equivalent of a big vein inside the skull — it's how the blood gets back to the heart," Goldstein explained.

It should have no long-term consequences if her doctors are saying she has suffered no neurological damage from it, he said.

Dr. Joseph Broderick, chairman of neurology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, also called Clinton's problem "relatively uncommon" after a concussion.

He and Goldstein said the problem often is overdiagnosed. They said scans often show these large "draining pipes" on either side of the head are different sizes, which can mean blood has pooled or can be merely an anatomical difference.

"I'm sure she's got the best doctors in the world looking at her," and if they are saying she has no neurological damage, "I would think it would be a pretty optimistic long-term outcome," Broderick said.

A review article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 describes the condition, which more often occurs in newborns or young people but can occur after a head injury. With modern treatment, more than 80 percent have a good neurologic outcome, the report says.

In the statement, Clinton's doctors said she "is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff."

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Online:

Medical journal: http://dura.stanford.edu/Articles/Stam_NEJM05.pdf

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Occupy float to follow Rose Parade

The Occupy movement will be making a repeat appearance at the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade, organizers and police said Monday.

A 15-foot-high float, with "Mr. Monopoly" riding a red wagon, will wheel its way down the 5.5-mile route at the conclusion of the parade, organizers said. The board game character, intended to represent bankers, will have strings attached to participants who are on the verge of losing their homes or have lost their homes to foreclosure.

"It symbolizes the grip the banks have on individual homeowners," said Carlos Marroquin, an organizer with Occupy Fights Foreclosures. "We're protesting the foreclosure practices that continue to hurt millions of families."

Occupy Fights Foreclosures, a subcommittee of Occupy L.A., is hoping to capture the attention of the thousands of national and international viewers of the parade, Marroquin said, and highlight what they call "illegal bank practices."

Organizers expect at least 200 people to march alongside their float "Occupy Our Homes, It's Not All Roses for the Banksters' Victims." Participants will meet at 6 a.m. at Singer Park before making their way to the parade route. Occupy groups from across the region, including Irvine, Riverside and Pasadena, are expected to attend.

"We are not planning a civil disobedience; we're not going to interrupt the parade itself," Marroquin said. "We just want to bring attention to the foreclosure issues involving these major banks."

Germany-based Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America are among the banks the Occupy protesters are criticizing.

The Pasadena Police Department has been working with Occupy Fights Foreclosures since announcing the group's participation last week.

"It was a little bit more last-minute than last year," said Police Chief Phillip Sanchez. "But they seem very cooperative."

The focus will be on ensuring the safety of parade participants and spectators, as well as protecting demonstrator's 1st Amendment rights, Sanchez said.

Occupy L.A.'s participation in the 2012 Rose Parade went off without a hitch, Sanchez said, and he expects it will be the same this time. Last year they marched the route after the Rose Parade with an octopus float made of plastic bags and a "peacekeeping team" to keep the calm.

There will be an increased law enforcement presence, including federal agents, at the 2013 parade because of the Occupy demonstration, Sanchez said.

Although official estimates tend to fluctuate, authorities expect nearly 900,000 people to attend the parade. Tournament of Roses officials said they expect more than 700,000 spectators.

"The big thing we'd like to get out there is that if someone sees something, they should say something," Sanchez said. "It's the best way we can prevent something from occurring."

adolfo.flores@latimes.com

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Bassem Youssef, a Champion for Egypt’s Liberals

CAIRO — As a new Constitution engraves Islam ever more firmly into Egyptian law, a young comic’s escalating battle with a group of ultraconservative television sheiks has become an early skirmish over the application of Islamic law, or Shariah.

In the weeks leading up to the referendum over the Islamist-backed charter, sheiks hosting Islamist variations on “The 700 Club” have spent weeks attacking the protesters who clogged Cairo’s streets, calling them perverts, drug users, paid thugs and Christians. When a 38-year-old television comedian, Bassem Youssef, began mocking the sheiks for their outlandish allegations, they turned on him, too, accusing him of sexual immorality and even poor hygiene.

“Bassem Zipper,” one called him, “the varmint.” Mr. Youssef “doesn’t know how to wash after he uses the bathroom,” another one said.

Far from offended, Mr. Youssef replayed clips of their attacks. “To those who tell me, ‘You insult the sheiks and scholars,’ I say, ‘The equation is very simple,’ ” he told his audience. “ ‘Just like you don’t consider us Muslims, to us, you’re not sheiks or scholars.’ ”

Mr. Youssef, who takes “The Daily Show” and Jon Stewart as models, has used parody to argue that the ultraconservatives, known as Salafis, are distorting Islam, and for the moment, his satire appears to have trumped their sanctimony. Mr. Youssef is winning not only the laughs of young audiences but also the endorsements of respected Muslim scholars. He even won a grudging apology from one of his critics.

“They outdo each over Shariah in a way that demeans Shariah and has no basis in Shariah,” said Sheik Ahmed Kerima of Al Azhar mosque-university, defending Mr. Youssef.

Habib Ali al-Jifri, an internationally known Islamic scholar based in Yemen, proclaimed that “if the enemies of Islam used all their resources to abuse it, they wouldn’t have been able to do what the sheiks did.” They had passed off their own “low morals,” he wrote, as divine teachings.

No one pretends that a late-night comedy show can erase the popular support of the Salafis or the more mainstream Muslim Brotherhood, another target of Mr. Youssef’s humor. But during his war of words with the sheiks, young men at street cafes in poor neighborhoods far from Cairo could be seen watching his show and shaking with laughter.

Egyptian liberals, delighted, say they have found a new champion.

“He makes a point of saying, ‘We are reclaiming Islam. Islam belongs to us and not you. As Muslims we are offended by what you are saying, so we are defending our religion by ridiculing you,’ ” said Hossam Bahgat, the executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. At the same time, Mr. Bahgat said, “he is very good with the sexual innuendos as well.”

“You could write a Ph.D. dissertation on the contradictions in Salafi discourse, or I could write a human rights report about its bigoted rhetoric,” Mr. Bahgat added, “but none of this is half as effective as one of Bassem’s weekly shows.”

Mr. Youssef stumbled into satire. A heart surgeon trained in the United States, he decided to take advantage of the media freedom after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak by making his own online parody of a news program, ridiculing liberals and revolutionaries just as much as conservatives and reactionaries. Appearing first only on YouTube, the show was soon picked up by private satellite networks and is now known as “Al Bernameg,” or “The Program.” This spring, Mr. Youssef even appeared as a guest alongside Mr. Stewart on “The Daily Show.”

During the sometimes violent struggle over the Islamist-backed Constitution, though, Mr. Youssef turned with special attention to what he called the “merchants of religion,” the pious Islamist television shows also newly emboldened after Mr. Mubarak.

After a night of deadly street fighting between the Islamists and their opponents, Mr. Youssef played clips in which one sheik after another demonized the protesters in much the same way that Mr. Mubarak’s state-run news media once portrayed the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, Mr. Youssef noted. But the Islamists were more vulgar.

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Hillary Clinton Hospitalized for a Blood Clot

12/30/2012 at 08:55 PM EST

Hillary Clinton has been hospitalized.

The Secretary of State was admitted to New York Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday after doctors found a blood clot during an exam related to the concussion she suffered during a fall earlier this month, CNN reports.

"Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion," Philippe Reines, deputy assistant secretary of state, said Sunday. "They will determine if any further action is required."

She's being treated with anti-coagulants and is expected to be hospitalized for 48 hours so she can be monitored.

Clinton, 65, suffered a concussion when she passed out and fell in her Washington, D.C., home. Reports at the time said dehydration suffered after a trip the former first lady took to Europe was the cause of her fall.

Clinton, who was recently named one of Barbara Walters's 10 most-fascinating people of 2012, plans to step down from her secretary post early next year.

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Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.

Two mothers who live in a mud-wall and tin-roof slum a short walk from the maternity hospital, which is affiliated with the Nairobi City Council, told The Associated Press that Pumwani wouldn't let them leave after delivering their babies. The bills the mothers couldn't afford were $60 and $160. Guards would beat mothers with sticks who tried to leave without paying, one of the women said.

Now, a New York-based group has filed a lawsuit on the women's behalf in hopes of forcing Pumwani to stop the practice, a practice Omondi is candid about.

"We hold you and squeeze you until we get what we can get. We must be self-sufficient," Omondi said in an interview in his hospital office. "The hospital must get money to pay electricity, to pay water. We must pay our doctors and our workers."

"They stay there until they pay. They must pay," he said of the 350 mothers who give birth each week on average. "If you don't pay the hospital will collapse."

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit this month in the High Court of Kenya, says detaining women for not paying is illegal. Pumwani is associated with the Nairobi City Council, one reason it might be able to get away with such practices, and the patients are among Nairobi's poorest with hardly anyone to stand up for them.

Maimouna Awuor was an impoverished mother of four when she was to give birth to her fifth in October 2010. Like many who live in Nairobi's slums, Awuor performs odd jobs in the hopes of earning enough money to feed her kids that day. Awuor, who is named in the lawsuit, says she had saved $12 and hoped to go to a lower-cost clinic but was turned away and sent to Pumwani. After giving birth, she couldn't pay the $60 bill, and was held with what she believes was about 60 other women and their infants.

"We were sleeping three to a bed, sometimes four," she said. "They abuse you, they call you names," she said of the hospital staff.

She said saw some women tried to flee but they were beaten by the guards and turned back. While her husband worked at a faraway refugee camp, Awuor's 9-year-old daughter took care of her siblings. A friend helped feed them, she said, while the children stayed in the family's 50-square-foot shack, where rent is $18 a month. She says she was released after 20 days after Nairobi's mayor paid her bill. Politicians in Kenya in general are expected to give out money and get a budget to do so.

A second mother named in the lawsuit, Margaret Anyoso, says she was locked up in Pumwani for six days in 2010 because she could not pay her $160 bill. Her pregnancy was complicated by a punctured bladder and heavy bleeding.

"I did not see my child until the sixth day after the surgery. The hospital staff were keeping her away from me and it was only when I caused a scene that they brought her to me," said Anyoso, a vegetable seller and a single mother with five children who makes $5 on a good day.

Anyoso said she didn't have clothes for her child so she wrapped her in a blood-stained blouse. She was released after relatives paid the bill.

One woman says she was detained for nine months and was released only after going on a hunger strike. The Center for Reproductive Rights says other hospitals also detain non-paying patients.

Judy Okal, the acting Africa director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said her group filed the lawsuit so all Kenyan women, regardless of socio-economic status, are able to receive health care without fear of imprisonment. The hospital, the attorney general, the City Council of Nairobi and two government ministries are named in the suit.

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Associated Press reporter Tom Odula contributed to this report.

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A small-town theater campaign's larger projections

OAKHURST, Calif. — Once in a while, Hollywood comes through this gateway to Yosemite National Park. People still talk about the time Ron Howard accidentally left one of his children (briefly) in a doughnut shop.

But Oakhurst's main connection to the movies has been the local Met Cinema, scene of countless first dates and family outings. When the Met closed abruptly in November — "Skyfall Coming Soon" still up on the marquee — it meant that those living in this mountain town and neighboring communities would have to drive at least 70 miles to Fresno to see James Bond on the big screen.

Now for the plot twist:

Three childhood friends believe they've developed a subscription plan that could save not only the Met but also struggling small-town theaters across the country.

The deadline to find out if they can make it work here is Dec. 31. If enough people enroll, the trio will be able to sign a lease and reopen the moviehouse. If not, the landlord plans to look for other tenants.

James Nelson, 30, a life coach who defines his specialty as "figuring out how to make the impossible possible," was driving back from a wealth-training seminar when his wife told him about the theater going under.

Nelson promptly turned to Matt Sconce, 31, a local church youth leader and filmmaker who got his start by winning an "American Idol" music video contest in 2004. (Sconce also works as a magician, selling DVDs of trick instruction to help supplement the family income.)

The pair then called Keith Walker, 32, a San Francisco software engineer for Klout, which ranks people according to their social media influence. Walker got in his car and started driving.

Soon the three were clustered around a computer — just like when they were kids and built a robot that was so amazing none of the adults believed it was their work.

"It felt exactly like the old days," Walker said. "Except we're taller."

They ran models of Nelson's subscription-based theater idea, showing that to break even they would need 3,000 people, or 15% of the mountain communities, to sign up. For $19.95 per month, a member would be able to see each movie one time and buy individual tickets for friends. Non-members could buy a $16 day pass.

While researching the theater business, Nelson learned that studios are transitioning to digital distribution. Thousands of independent theaters that couldn't afford equipment upgrades have closed over the last 10 years, according to industry experts. Hundreds more — which, like the Met, still show print films — remain on the brink. The subscription business model could pay for the new equipment.

"We realized this could be our big idea, the one we've been waiting for," Nelson said. "Saving small-town movies."

Walker asked for a leave of absence to work on the project. When it was turned down, he quit his job.

Sconce began marketing the "Be a Met Hero" program, including dressing his two children as superheroes and having them hold signs along the highway.

"We like to be a little corny," Nelson said.

"We don't 'like to be.' We just are," Sconce corrected.

"Yes," Walker agreed. "We have no choice."

The tricky part of the membership-model calculation is that box-office totals are based on ticket sales, and distribution deals for a movie include a percentage of each ticket sold. But Met members would scan magnetic cards to record attendance totals for each film.

In the end, the success of the venture may come down to whether major studios are willing to negotiate contracts without traditional tickets being sold. But first, success depends on signing up members.

Sconce, Nelson and Walker have spoken to the local rotary clubs. They performed Handel's Hallelujah Chorus while pitching their idea at the Yosemite High Winter Concert at Bass Lake. And Walker was a hit at the Sierra Springs Village Mobile Home Park's Christmas party.

"He was adorable. So gung-ho," said Cindy Karr, 65. "Everybody was in favor and signed up. It's important to get out and see new releases."

In the first two days of the campaign, 500 people joined, many of them affixing "I'm a Met Hero" stickers to their car bumpers. At last count, 2,633 had committed. No one will be charged unless the plan is a go.

Before the Met went dark last month, moviegoers tended to come early to chat with neighbors, hush up during the show and hang out in the popcorn-scented lobby afterward to critique what they'd seen.

That's what makes movie night in small towns something to be saved, Walker said.

"There's something magical about experiencing a movie with a bunch of other people," he said. "Your couch and a movie theater are not the same thing."

diana.marcum@latimes.com

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World Briefing | Europe: Italy’s Departing Leader Backs Centrist Coalition

Mario Monti, the departing caretaker prime minister, said Friday that he would back a centrist grouping in national elections expected in February. Mr. Monti, left, governed for 13 months before resigning this month. Although he said that he would not be a candidate — as a senator for life, he does not need to run in elections — his statement solidifies him as a de facto third-party leader. Traditionally, political groups have named a candidate for prime minister before elections. The grouping led by Mr. Monti, who in recent days has been endorsed by the powerful Roman Catholic Church, will challenge the center-right leader, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has adopted a populist stance critical of the euro; and the center-left leader, Pierluigi Bersani, whose Democratic Party is leading in polls.

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China tightens Internet controls, legalizes post deletion

BEIJING (Reuters) – China unveiled tighter Internet controls on Friday, legalizing the deletion of posts or pages which are deemed to contain “illegal” information and requiring service providers to hand over such information to the authorities for punishment.

The rules signal that the new leadership headed by Communist Party chief Xi Jinping will continue muzzling the often scathing, raucous online chatter in a country where the Internet offers a rare opportunity for debate.

The new regulations, announced by the official Xinhua news agency, also require Internet users to register with their real names when signing up with network providers, though, in reality, this already happens.

Chinese authorities and Internet companies such as Sina Corp have long since closely monitored and censored what people say online, but the government has now put measures such as deleting posts into law.

“Service providers are required to instantly stop the transmission of illegal information once it is spotted and take relevant measures, including removing the information and saving records, before reporting to supervisory authorities,” the rules state.

The restrictions follow a series of corruption scandals amongst lower-level officials exposed by Internet users, something the government has said it is trying to encourage.

Li Fei, deputy head of parliament’s legislative affairs committee, said the new rules did not mean people needed to worry about being unable to report corruption online. But he added a warning too.

“When people exercise their rights, including the right to use the Internet, they must do so in accordance with the law and constitution, and not harm the legal rights of the state, society … or other citizens,” he told a news conference.

Chinese Internet users already cope with extensive censorship measures, especially over politically sensitive topics like human rights and elite politics, and popular foreign sites Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube are blocked.

Earlier this year, the government began forcing users of Sina’s wildly successful Weibo microblogging platform to register their real names.

The new rules were quickly condemned by some Weibo users.

“So now they are getting Weibo to help in keeping records and reporting it to authorities. Is this the freedom of expression we are promised in the constitution?” complained one user.

“We should resolutely oppose such a covert means to interfere with Internet freedom,” wrote another.

The government says tighter monitoring of the Internet is needed to prevent people making malicious and anonymous accusations online, disseminating pornography and spreading panic with unfounded rumors, pointing out that many other countries already have such rules.

Despite periodic calls for political reform, the party has shown no sign of loosening its grip on power and brooks no dissent to its authority.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sally Huang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Matthew McConaughey & Wife Camila Welcome Baby No. 3

By Elizabeth Leonard

12/28/2012 at 06:10 PM EST

Camila and Matthew McConaughey

Gary Miller/FilmMagic

It's a very merry holiday week for Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila.

The couple welcomed their third child together in Austin, Texas, on Friday, sources confirm to PEOPLE.

The pair, who are also parents to Vida, who turns 3 next month, and Levi, 4, announced the pregnancy just one month after their June nuptials in Texas.

Camila, 29, joked that even as she put on pregnancy pounds, her actor husband, 43, was losing weight – dramatically – for The Dallas Buyers Club, in which he plays the real-life Ron Woodruff, who contracted HIV.

"We have gone the complete opposite direction eating wise, but we're navigating it," she said last summer. "But I don't really have cravings yet."

McConaughey's latest movie, Mud, will be released April. 26,

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