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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Comedy duo Ant and Dec bag surprise No 1 with 19-year-old song
LONDON (Reuters) - Newcastle comedy duo Ant and Dec scored a surprise singles number one this week with a reissue of a 19-year-old hit, while U.S. star Justin Timberlake clung to the top of the album chart, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday.
Originally released in 1994 under the moniker PJ and Duncan, Ant and Dec's "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble" went straight to number one after the pair roped in other pop stars to perform the song on their Saturday Night Takeaway TV show last week.
The song, which reached the top ten in 1994, is the first number one for the pair, who are both aged 37.
London-based singer-songwriter Charlie Brown provided the top ten's only other new entry with "On My Way" at number seven, the artist's first top ten hit.
In the album chart "Delta Machine" by electro-pop pioneers Depeche Mode failed to dislodge Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" from the top of the pile, the album now in its second week at number one.
David Bowie's "The Next Day" slipped one place to number three, while darlings of the New York Indie rock scene The Strokes entered the album chart at tenth place with "Comedown Machine".
(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas; Editing by Stephen Powell)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/comedy-duo-ant-dec-bag-surprise-no-1-180441092.html
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Bing Gordon's Founder Checklist: Animal Energy, Blind Confidence, And A Toupee.
Editor?s note:?Derek?Andersen?is the founder of?Startup Grind, a 40-city community bringing the global startup world together while educating, inspiring, and connecting entrepreneurs. As an?Electronic Arts’ intern eight years ago, I asked Bing Gordon then the chief creative officer?and the only remaining early founding team member, a question about vision. ?How can I know where the puck is going to be?? While he delivered a satisfactory response, two weeks later I received an email from Bing saying, ?I answered that question poorly a few weeks and I wanted to try again.? A few weeks ago?Bing joined me?at Startup Grind in Silicon Valley where he delivered some videogame history and founder advice. In 2010?Mark Pincus called KPCB general partner Bing Gordon?(look for a bald guy on the front row) one of the world?s ?great CEO coaches? supporting founders on the boards of companies like Amazon, Zynga, Klout, and Zazzle. Here?are some excepts from our recent?interview. Derek: Tell us about your family and where you grew up? BING: So I grew up in a suburb of Detroit.? My dad was a first generation Scotsman and his dad was a janitor.? And he was somebody that believed the grass was always greener and didn?t have, kind of, context or resources.? Thanks, Dad!? We were the first to move in to a subdivision built out of farmlands surrounding Detroit, so I grew up kind of in the creek.? Playing sports with my brother who remembers growing up in the House of Pain. ?So I had a good Midwestern upbringing.? I didn?t work in an office before going to Stanford business school, but I did think I was a pretty damn good teenage caddy. I played hockey and lacrosse at the university level and played both, kind of, for most of my adult life. Derek: What was your plan heading to college? BING: Well I went to Yale thinking I was going to be a math major and a writer, and I got there and Yale was lousy at math and it seemed socially irrelevant, so I kind of became an athlete-near-college-dropout.? I realized I was flunking a third of my classes going into the final.? My proud accomplishments in college other than sports achievements was I wrote poetry.? Kind of light verse, in a coffee shop, and Peter Faulk when he was doing Columbo came, and liked it so much he took me out drinking that
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Researchers combat obesity with tech tools popular with teens
The best weapon in the battle against obesity may already be in the hands of children and teenagers.
That?s the thinking behind the work of several researchers and technologists around the country who hope to turn cell phones into devices that can help young people make healthier food and lifestyle choices.
A recent Pew Internet study found that 78 percent of teens now have a cell phone, and almost half of them ? 47 percent -- own smartphones with computing capability.
?It?s interesting because most often we think using technology is part of the problem,? said Dr. Susan Woolford of the Pediatric Comprehensive Weight Management Center at the University of Michigan, pointing to video games and other uses of technology that have made teens more sedentary. ?We actually hope that using this new technology will help us.?
Woolford leads a team that sends highly tailored and targeted text messages to obese adolescents to help them change their behaviors. The messages urge teens to reduce their time in front of TV and computer screens, eat a healthy breakfast and more fruits and vegetables, and reduce the number of sweets and sugary beverages in their diets.
The initial test program had bout 25 volunteer participants -- overweight teens who are participating in university's weight management program.
To get the most effective messages to individual teens, participants in the pilot program filled out an online survey with questions about their activity level, what kind of support they have, what kind of foods they prefer and what inspires them to lose weight.
From there, the team has developed an extensive library of unique automated messages that are sent daily. Their goal is to get the right message at the right time to the right person.
?We aren?t going to suggest you play basketball as an activity if you said your interest was in water sports,? Woolford said.
Or if a teen prefers dairy for breakfast, the team?s text might suggest low-fat yogurt.
Woolford said the feedback from the participants has been crucial in shaping the messages.
She pointed to a text suggesting alternative snacks that said, ?Instead of ice cream try frozen yogurt today." But some teens in the study were quick to point out when they see the words ?ice cream? in a message they were not able to see the healthy alternative that comes later.
So, Woolford said, the text message simply became "Try yogurt this morning."
?I think technology is definitely going to help us,? she said, ?It?s not just sending a text message, it?s send the right text message. And if we pay attention to the content we hope the success will be greater.?
In Massachusetts, Dr. Nicolas Oreskovic is using another common smartphone feature ? the Global Positioning System ? to study where in a city and when young people are active.
?What urban spaces do they use for physical activity and what spaces they do not use for physical activity?? Oreskovic asked.
Oreskovic and his team based at Massachusetts General Hospital?s Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy had teens in Revere, Mass. wear GPS devices on their wrists and accelerometers on their hips for several months over three seasons to collect data on the location and activity of their daily routines.
By plotting the results on a city map, Oreskovic noticed that children tend to be active in outdoor spaces like parks, playgrounds, streets and sidewalks rather than indoor spaces like their home and school. He also charted when they are most active and where and when they walked to a park or playground.
Oreskovic said he hopes such studies help urban planners design cities and towns to promote a more healthy and active lifestyle in children.
If city officials had good data about how children use their sidewalks, parks and open areas, they can redesign communities with the right walking paths to the right parks, Oreskovic said. Decisions could be made using scientific data, which in turn should encourage more use of a city's parks, playscapes and open space.
Oreskovic said a next step could be to use location mapping to help teens find healthy food options and places to spend their time. The GPS on their cellphones and texting technology could be combined to point teens to a safe park to play or suggest a healthier restaurant near their favorite fast food joint.
?I think the wave of the future in these not traditional areas,? Oreskovic said. ?Intervention in schools has had a limited impact. These novel technology areas are where we can individualize obesity counseling may be helpful.?
Technology is making great strides in the fight against obesity according to Dr. Philip Schauer, director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. Schauer said hundreds of applications on mobile and desktop and computerized devices, like smart watches and digital jewelry, are being developed to help users maintain a healthy lifestyle.
?Some of these smart watches can help us with weight, they can keep track of the steps day we take each day, the calories burning and track our weight on daily basis," Schauer said.
"There?s all kinds of apps, more and more come out each day and it?s hard to keep track of them,? Schauer said. ?I even think they are working on one where you can take a picture of the food eating with the camera on your smartphone and an app tells you how many calories it is.?
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Alaska lawmaker apologizes for racial slur
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rep. Don Young, the gruff Republican veteran who represents the entire state of Alaska, apologized Friday for referring to Hispanic migrant workers as "wetbacks" in a radio interview.
"I apologize for the insensitive term I used during an interview in Ketchikan, Alaska," Young said in a statement after lawmakers from both political parties called on him to apologize.
"There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words," Young said. "That word, and the negative attitudes that come with it, should be left in the 20th century, and I'm sorry that this has shifted our focus away from comprehensive immigration reform."
The 79-year-old Young, the second-most senior Republican in the House, issued a statement late Thursday seeking to explain his remark after using the derogatory term to describe the workers on his father's farm in central California, where he grew up.
Young, discussing the labor market during an interview with radio station KRBD in Ketchikan, said that on his father's ranch, "we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes." He said, "It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It's all done by machine."
"Wetbacks" often refers to Mexican migrants who have entered the country illegally, and Hispanics consider the word, which can be used to disparage all Hispanics, to be highly pejorative.
Young's explanation on Thursday wasn't good enough for lawmakers from either political party. His use of the word drew swift criticism from fellow Republicans working to temper the party's hardline positions on illegal immigrants and to improve GOP standing among Hispanic voters.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Young's remarks were "offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds." Boehner said he didn't care why Young said it; "there's no excuse, and it warrants an immediate apology."
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said the party offers a "beacon of hope" for those seeking liberty around the world and that Young's remarks "emphatically do not represent the beliefs of the Republican Party."
"Shame on Don Young," said Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairman Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas. "It is deeply disheartening that in 2013, we are forced to have a discussion about a member of Congress using such hateful words and racial slurs."
Arturo Carmona, executive director of Presente.org, an online Latino advocacy organization, said Young should resign.
In his statement on Thursday, Young said he had "used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in central California. I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect."
He added that during the interview, he had "discussed the compassion and understanding I have for these workers and the hurdles they face in obtaining citizenship" and said the country must tackle the issue of immigration reform.
Among his jobs before entering politics were teaching school to indigenous Alaskans and working as a tugboat captain in the Yukon. Since entering Congress in 1973, Young has been known for his hot temper, his salty language and his independent streak.
As resources committee chairman in the late 1990s, he took on environmentalists and the Bill Clinton administration in pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and logging in Alaska national forests. He headed the transportation committee during much of the George W. Bush administration, during which he defied his own party's anti-tax positions by supporting an increase in the federal gas tax to help pay for bridge and highway construction.
It was under Young's chairmanship that the "bridge to nowhere," which was actually two proposed Alaska construction projects, became a symbol for questionable special projects inserted into spending bills.
He also is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which is looking into whether he failed to report gifts on his annual disclosure forms, misused campaign funds and lied to federal officials. The investigation comes from an earlier Justice Department probe into whether Young accepted gifts in return for political patronage. Young has said that Justice cleared him of those charges.
"I've been under a cloud all my life," he told reporters in Juneau Thursday. "It's sort of like living in Juneau. It rains on you all the time. You don't even notice it."
Young said he plans to run for re-election next year, saying he doesn't know anyone who can do a better job than he does in representing the state.
___
Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alaska-lawmaker-apologizes-racial-slur-120726971.html
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Saturday, March 30, 2013
NCAA Sweet 16: South, Midwest regions feature top-flight teams
There's NCAA royalty: Duke and Kansas. There are NCAA perennials: Florida, Michigan State, and Louisville. Michigan and Oregon have worked hard to get here. And then there's Cinderella, otherwise known as Florida Gulf Coast University, taking part in Friday night's Sweet 16 action.
Louisville guard Russ Smith shoots during practice for a regional semifinal game in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Indianapolis. Louisville plays Oregon on Friday.
Michael Conroy/AP
EnlargeFriday night, NCAA tournament action continues with regional semi-final action in the South and Midwest regions, taking place in Arlington, Texas, and Indianapolis respectively.
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In the Midwest, top seed Louisville will face Oregon, seeded a debatable 12th this year. After reaching the 2012 Final Four, the Cardinals are looking to go back-to-back for the first time since they did it in 1982 and 1983. They easily dispatched North Carolina A&T in their first tournament game, then ran past Colorado State to reach the Sweet 16.
The Cardinals are paced by guard Russ Smith, whose continual drives to the basket put tremendous pressure on the other team's defense.
The Ducks, coming off an impressive win in the Pac-12 conference championship game, downed both Oklahoma State and Saint Louis to punch their ticket to Indy. Third year head coach Dana Altman, who previously had taken Creighton to the NCAA tournament, has his team playing at a high level.
Also in the Midwest Friday night, second seed Duke takes on third seed Michigan State. This game could be considered an old-school match-up, as both teams have veteran lineups and coaches with extensive NCAA tourney experience.
Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devil squad beat both Albany and Creighton, while Tom Izzo's Spartans have looked solid in wins over Valparaiso and Memphis.
Kansas is still alive as the top seed in the South region. The Jayhawks will meet fourth seed Michigan in Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas. KU had to scrap its way to?a win over Western Kentucky in the second round. Then, they had to overcome a poor first-half shooting performance against North Carolina before finally pulling away from the Tar Heels.
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Friday, March 29, 2013
Judge strikes down parts of Indiana immigration law
By Susan Guyett
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - A federal judge has ruled sections of a 2011 Indiana immigration law unconstitutional, making permanent an injunction against a law inspired by Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants.
The state will forego an appeal on Thursday's ruling, Attorney General Greg Zoeller said on Friday.
The Indiana bill, signed into law by the previous governor, Mitch Daniels, permitted warrantless arrests of non-citizens and prohibited the use of consular IDs as forms of identification.
It was inspired by Arizona's law, known as S.B. 1070 that took over some aspects of immigration enforcement from the U.S. government.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Immigration Law Center and law firm of Lewis & Kappes brought the class-action suit, contending Indiana's law allowed police to make warrantless arrests based on assumed immigration status and criminalized the usage of a consular identification card.
Judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana said the law violated the Fourth Amendment because it permitted state and local authorities to "effect warrantless arrests for matters that are not crimes."
The rest of the law went unchallenged in this lawsuit and is not part of the judge's ruling.
The state would not appeal the decision although, Zoeller said in a statement, his office is defending a challenge to another section the law in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
Last summer, Zoeller said the warrantless arrest aspects of the Indiana could not be defended following a U. S. Supreme Court decision on the Arizona immigration law.
Last June, the court struck down a warrantless arrest provision of the Arizona law and other aspects while upholding the Arizona law's most controversial aspect, a requirement that police check the immigration status of people they stop, even for the most minor of offenses.
Three state senators then filed motions to intervene in the case and Barker dismissed their motion.
Barker previously issued a preliminary injunction against the Indiana law so it never went into effect, according to Kelly Jones Sharp of the ACLU of Indiana.
(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Leslie Gevirtz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-strikes-down-parts-indiana-immigration-law-195503356.html
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Sharapova beats Errani in Key Biscayne quarters
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) ? The grunts were long and loud in the final game, as if Maria Sharapova was pushing a couch across nearby Crandon Beach.
Trying to win the Sony Open must feel that way to Sharapova, a four-time runner-up. She returned to the semifinals Wednesday despite a patchy performance, beating Sara Errani 7-5, 7-5.
Sharapova had 57 unforced errors, including 13 double-faults, and overcame three set points in the second set.
"I made things much more difficult than they should have been," she said.
The two sets took 2? hours, and a flurry of mistakes by both players left spectators groaning. Sharapova had the last laugh, whacking a forehand winner past Errani on match point.
"She really made me work for this match," Sharapova said. "I had to dig deep ? so many opportunities, a few ups and downs. I'm definitely happy to get through another one."
Seeded No. 3, she'll play Thursday against No. 22 Jelena Jankovic, who beat No. 15 Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
The men's quarterfinals featured eight Europeans for the first time, and in the opening match, No. 3 David Ferrer of Spain rallied past unseeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Ferrer's opponent Friday will bracket buster Tommy Haas of Germany, who beat No. 11 Gilles Simon of France, 6-3, 6-1.
The 34-year-old Haas became the oldest man to beat a No. 1 player in a completed match in 30 years when he upset three-time champion Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night.
Sharapova faced Errani in a rematch of last year's French Open final, which Sharapova won to complete a career Grand Slam. But she has never won Key Biscayne, losing the final in 2005, '06, '11 and '12.
"I've been so close to winning," Sharapova said. "I would love to win this. I've been coming to this tournament since I was a little kid as a spectator. To be playing here, to be doing so well and getting to that stage, I sure hope I can go further this time."
Her quarterfinal took place with the stadium half empty despite postcard weather. Attendance is down about 7 percent from last year, and promoters blame the absence of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Sharapova struggled with both her first and second serves, and in the second set she lost eight consecutive service points. While she and Errani waged a series of long, entertaining baseline rallies, both were also prone to blowing easy shots.
Sharapova's superior firepower proved the difference. Serving at 4-5 in the second set, she erased three set points and held. Two games later she endured one final double-fault, then hit winners on the last two points.
Errani, seeded No. 8, fell to 0-26 against opponents ranked in the top five. She's 0-4 against Sharapova.
"It's nice to get through a match when you don't feel like you're playing your best, because you feel like you have a lot to improve," Sharapova said. "You have no choice. It's a semifinal.
"Would I have loved to play better? Of course. But some days you can't go out on the court and everything goes in and you feel great and you're playing the way you imagined to play. It just doesn't happen."
Sharapova has won 10 consecutive matches, all in straight sets. She won the Indian Wells championship this month and is bidding to become the third woman to claim that title and Key Biscayne in the same year. Steffi Graf did it in 1994 and 1996, and Kim Clijsters won both in 2005.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sharapova-beats-errani-key-biscayne-quarters-200237938--spt.html
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US stealth bomber as messenger: what it says to China, North Korea
The B-2 stealth bomber's history of hitting China's Belgrade embassy in 1999 makes it's training mission over South Korea an even more pointed message to North Korea's Kim Jong-un.
The Pentagon sent its distinctive bat-wing-shaped B-2 stealth bombers, pictured here in 2003, flying low over the Korean Peninsula this week, making it's training mission over South Korea.
Courtesy of Rebeca M. Luquin/U.S. Department of Defense/Reuters/File
EnlargeThe Pentagon sent its distinctive bat-wing-shaped B-2 stealth bombers flying low over the Korean Peninsula this week ? dropping munitions over a remote South Korean island ? in what US military officials initially described as a routine training exercise.
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But the B-2 bomber runs ? along with the US military?s unusually frank announcement of this fact ? were designed to send a far more pointed warning to North Korea, and more precisely to the country?s young dictator, Kim Jong-un, who lately has been increasingly bellicose in his words and actions, say senior US officials.
Kim?s ?provocative actions? and ?belligerent tone? have ?ratcheted up the danger, and I think we have to understand that reality,? Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday afternoon in his first joint press conference with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey.
This danger includes the nation?s third nuclear test in February and threats to aim long-range artillery and rockets at US and allied troops.
The B-2 bomber can fly some 6,500 miles, drop smart bombs, and is nuclear-capable.
It is also the same US aircraft that infamously hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1999.
While this was described as an accident at the time, conventional wisdom among many defense analysts today is that China?s Peoples Liberation Army forces in the embassy basement were sending out intelligence?information to President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, whose military was committing atrocities.
The B-2 bomber does, after all, have the most precisely targeted munitions in any military arsenal, accurate to within two meters, the defense analysts point out.?
Yet regardless of whether this theory about the 1999 B-2 bombing is true, the point is that the Chinese and North Korean government believe it to be true, says Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.
For that reason, the training run involving the B-2 bombers ?is a subtle signal to China and North Korea to say ?Look, war can really happen. We?re not going to be deterred, and we?re going to go after high-value target sites.? ?
But does the US know enough about Kim?s rationality to bring out the B-2 bombers, which could further provoke North Korea?
?There are a lot of unknowns here,? Mr. Hagel conceded Thursday. ?But we have to take seriously every provocative, bellicose word and action that this new young leader has taken so far since he?s come to power.?
Given those unknowns, then, is it wise to eye-poke an unpredictable ? possibly irrational ? new dictator?
?I don?t think we?re poking,? Hagel said. ?I don?t think we?re doing anything extraordinary, or provocative, or out of the orbit of what other nations do to protect their own interests.?
The point, both General Dempsey and Hagel reiterated, is not just to flex US military muscles for North Korea?s benefit, but more importantly to reassure US allies that the Pentagon has their back.
?The reaction to the B-2 that we?re most concerned about it not necessarily the reaction that it might elicit in North Korea,? Dempsey said Thursday. ?Those exercises are mostly to assure our allies that they can count on us to be prepared.?
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
The Uses of Electronics Recycling | Vernonvtpolice.com
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Pope washes feet of young detainees in ritual
ROME (AP) ? Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of a dozen inmates at a juvenile detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual that he celebrated for years as archbishop and is continuing now that he is pope. Two of the 12 were young women, a remarkable choice given that the church's current liturgical law says only men should participate.
The Mass was held in the Casal del Marmo facility in Rome, where 46 young men and women currently are detained. Many of them are Gypsies or North African migrants, and the 12 selected for the foot-washing rite included Orthodox and Muslim detainees, news reports said.
Because the inmates were mostly minors ? the facility houses inmates aged 14-to-21 ? the Vatican and Italian Justice Ministry limited media access inside. But Vatican Radio carried the Mass live, and Francis told the detainees that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in a gesture of love and service.
"This is a symbol, it is a sign ? washing your feet means I am at your service," Francis told the youngsters. "Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us. This is what I do. And I do it with my heart. I do this with my heart because it is my duty, as a priest and bishop I must be at your service."
Later, the Vatican released a limited video of the ritual, showing Francis washing black feet, white feet, male feet, female feet and even a foot with tattoos. Kneeling on the stone floor as the 12 youngsters sat above him, the 76-year-old Francis poured water from a silver chalice over each foot, dried it with a simple cotton towel and then bent over to kiss each one.
As archbishop of Buenos Aires, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio would celebrate the ritual foot-washing in jails, hospitals or hospices ? part of his ministry to the poorest and most marginalized of society. It's a message that he is continuing now that he is pope, saying he wants a church "for the poor."
Previous popes would carry out the foot-washing ritual on Holy Thursday in Rome's grand St. John Lateran basilica. The 12 people chosen for the ritual would always be priests to represent Christ's 12 apostles.
That Francis would include women in this re-enactment is remarkable given current liturgical rules that restrict the ritual to men.
Canon lawyer Edward Peters, who is an adviser to the Holy See's top court, noted in a blog that the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1988 said in a letter to bishops that "The washing of the feet of chosen men ... represents the service and charity of Christ who came 'not to be served, but to serve.'"
Peters noted that bishops over the years have successfully petitioned Rome for an exemption to allow women to participate, but that the law on the issue is clear.
"By disregarding his own law in this matter, Francis violates, of course, no divine directive," Peters wrote Thursday. "What he does do, I fear, is set a questionable example."
Others welcomed the example he set.
"The pope's washing the feet of women is hugely significant because including women in this part of the Holy Thursday Mass has been frowned on ? and even banned ? in some dioceses," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "The Jesuit Guide."
"It shows the all-embracing love of Christ, who ministered to all he met: man or woman, slave or free, Jew or Gentile," he said.
After the Mass, Francis greeted each of the inmates and gave each one an Easter egg.
"Don't lose hope," he said. "Understand? With hope you can always go on."
One of the inmates then asked him why he had come to visit them. Francis said it was to "help me to be humble, as a bishop should be." He said he wanted to come "from my heart. Things from the heart don't have an explanation," he said.
Italian Justice Minister Paola Severino, who has made easing Italy's woefully overcrowded prisons a priority, attended the Mass.
___
Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-washes-feet-young-detainees-ritual-173757747.html
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Kerry heads home after Iraq, Afghanistan visits
PARIS (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed for home Wednesday after making clandestine journeys to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he delivered a stern warning to Iraqi leaders about Syria and sought to patch up differences with Afghanistan's president.
Kerry was flying back to Washington from Paris, having piggy-backed off President Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East to make unannounced stops in Baghdad and Kabul, as well as following up on Obama's discussions with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
In Iraq, he told Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that shipments of Iranian weapons and fighters through Iraqi territory must stop. In Afghanistan, he put on a show of unity with President Hamid Karzai, whose recent anti-American comments had angered U.S. officials.
Kerry's first foray as secretary of state into the war zones were shrouded in secrecy for security reasons.
Using Jordan ? the last stop on Obama's tour ? as a base, Kerry flew surreptitiously to Baghdad aboard a military transport plane Sunday for meetings with al-Maliki and other Iraq officials just four days after the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
A key message, officials said, was to warn Iraq that unless it cracks down on Iranian planes and trucks using Iraqi territory to supply Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime with arms, it will not have a voice in ongoing preparations for a post-Assad Syria. He also urged the Iraqis to overcome deep sectarian differences that have fueled consistent instability since the departure of U.S. troops in late 2011, and to hold inclusive, transparent local elections next month.
After returning to Jordan, where he had dinner with Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Kerry flew to Afghanistan on Monday for talks with Karzai amid fears the Afghan leader might be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with anti-American rhetoric.
While Kerry was there, the Taliban claimed responsibility for eight suicide bombers attacking a police headquarters in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing five officers and wounding four.
Karzai infuriated U.S. officials earlier this month by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration pressed ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO's combat mission by the end of next year.
But after their talks, which coincided with the U.S. military ceding control of its last detention facility in Afghanistan, Kerry brushed aside concerns about Karzai's comments.
"We're on the same page," Kerry told reporters. "I don't think there is any disagreement between us and I am very, very comfortable with the president's explanation."
Karzai said he had been trying to make the point that if the Taliban really wanted foreign troops out of Afghanistan they should stop killing people.
Speaking to staffers at the embassy in Kabul before he left Tuesday, Kerry joked about the rapprochement, noting that the weather before his arrival had been cold and rainy. "President Karzai and I stood up and it was like the sun had been shining forever between us," he said to laughter. "It was wonderful."
Kerry then flew to Paris, where he met French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to discuss the crisis in Syria and also promoted a new trans-Atlantic trade agreement that the Obama administration is pushing.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-heads-home-iraq-afghanistan-visits-102734413--politics.html
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Ancient Iraq yields fresh finds for returning archaeologists
British archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown palace or temple near the ancient city of Ur in the first foreign excavation at the site in southern Iraq since the 1930s.
A small team of archaeologists working from satellite images hinting at a buried structure have uncovered the corner of a monumental complex with rows of rooms around a large courtyard, believed to be about 4,000 years old.
?The size is breathtaking,? says Jane Moon, a University of Manchester archaeologist who heads the expedition. Ms. Moon says the walls of the structure are almost nine feet thick, indicating that the building was of great importance or indicated great wealth.
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The discovery is even more significant because of its location more than 10 miles from Ur, on what would then have been the banks of the Euphrates River ? the first major archaeological find that far from the city.
Ur, the last capital of the Sumerian empire, was invaded and collapsed in about 2000 BC before being rebuilt. The city was dedicated to the moon god and is famous for its ziggurat (a stepped temple). Many believe it is the birthplace of the prophet Abraham, known as the father of monotheistic religion.
MODERN METHODS
The last major excavation at Ur was performed by a British-American team led by Sir Charles Leonard Woolley in the 1920s and the 1930s. After the 1950s revolution, which toppled Iraq?s monarchy, a nearby military air base put the area off limits to foreign archaeologists for the next half century.
?What Wooley found were these tremendous monumental buildings, but it?s difficult to tell a coherent story about them because they were restored again and again and again, and what you see is neo-Babylonian, 7th century BC ? very much later,? says Moon. ?He wasn?t able to see what they were really used for and that?s where I?m hoping our modern methods might be able to say something.?
At Ur, Wooley also discovered a spectacular treasure trove that rivals King Tut?s tomb. At least 16 members of royalty were buried at Ur with elaborate gold jewelry, including a queen?s headdress made of gold leaves and studded with lapis lazuli. Other objects included a gold and lapis lyre, one of the first known musical instruments.
In the 1930s, the treasures were split between the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, which funded Wooley?s work, and the newly created Iraq museum.
Moon says it?s impossible to tell whether the new site might contain similar finds.
?Ultimately we?re not looking for objects we?re looking for information.? I guess it?s always a possibility. In archaeology you can always be surprised.?
A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
She says modern methods, such as examining very thin slices of soil hardened with resin under a microscope, can shed light on details like whether there were carpets on the floor or whether a surface was used for cutting. Putting samples of earth through a wet sieving machine can provide information about climate and agriculture by revealing bone fragments from rodents or lizards.
?You can really look at the ancient economy and that?s the kind of thing they couldn?t do when they last found big buildings like this,? says Moon, who last worked in Iraq in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War, documenting archaeological sites in the north before they were submerged by Saddam Hussein?s dam-building projects.
Her team, which has struggled for both funding and visas, consists of six British archaeologists, an Iraqi archaeologist, and two Iraqi trainees. It is funded mostly by a Swiss benefactor, with participation by the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, the successor to an organization founded in 1932 in honor of Gertrude Bell. ?Miss Bell,? as she is still known in Iraq, was the British administrator of Iraq after World War II and the founder of the Iraq Museum.
A law passed in 1932 bars archaeologists from removing antiquities from the country, but Moon believes making the knowledge about the antiquities available is as important as the objects themselves. "There?s always been a sense of taking the intellectual property away,? she says, adding that all the information, including drawings, was being done electronically to make it easier to compile and to share.
?We want to make this as public as possible so we can give this information to anyone who wants it. We have no reason to hang on to it and we have the means to spread it around, so that?s what we?re doing,? she says.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-iraq-yields-fresh-finds-returning-archaeologists-201454128.html
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Spamhaus Hit With 'Largest Publicly Announced DDoS Attack' Ever, Affecting Internet Users Worldwide
LONDON (AP) -- An Internet watchdog group responsible for keeping ads for counterfeit Viagra and bogus weight-loss pills out of inboxes around the world has been hit by a huge cyberattack, a crushing electronic onslaught that one expert said had already had ripple effects across the Web.
Spam-fighting organization Spamhaus said Wednesday that it had been buffeted by a massive denial-of-service attack since mid-March, apparently from groups angry at being blacklisted by the Geneva-based group.
The BBC identifies one of those blacklisted groups as Cyberbunker, a a web hosting company in the Netherlands. Cyberbunker "offers dedicated server hosting that allow clients to stay online, no matter what," according to its website.
"It is a small miracle that we're still online," Spamhaus researcher Vincent Hanna said in an interview.
Denial-of-service attacks work by overwhelming target servers with traffic - like hundreds of letters being jammed through a mail slot at the same time. In a blog post, San Francisco-based CloudFlare, Inc. said the attackers were taking advantage of weaknesses in the Internet's infrastructure to trick servers from across the Internet into routing billions of bits of junk traffic to Spamhaus every second.
The attack could be bad news for email users, many of whose incoming messages are checked against Spamhaus's widely used and constantly updated blacklists.
Hanna said that his site had so far managed to stay on top of the spammers, but warned that being knocked offline could give them an opening to step up their mailings.
The sheer size of the attack has already affected Internet users elsewhere, according to Patrick Gilmore of Akamai Technologies.
He explained that colleagues at other Internet service providers had been in touch to say their services were affected by the attack. He declined to identify them - saying they had shared the information on a confidential basis - but said problems include sluggish access and dropped connections.
He added to the New York Times: "It is the largest publicly announced DDoS attack in the history of the Internet."
Earlier on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/spamhaus-cyber-attack_n_2963632.html
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5 Social Media Tools To Monitor Your Brand | All Social Services
If you are one of the players in the online business industry, then you are more likely concerned with your online brand image. A good online repute is central to attracting and maintaining business customers. With the seemingly universal implementation of social media among consumers, brands can now eavesdrop on conversations on the subject of their goods and services. While it?s not feasible to control these conversations, companies can monitor and act upon them. Often, brand followers and critics are somewhat vocal in equal measure, and all those reviews and opinions are available on the internet, if you use the right social media tools for monitoring purposes.
Every good discussion begins with listening. Social media monitoring tools are available to help you take note of the discussion, engage, and become proactive. Traditionally, brands prefer to listen before responding and avoid damage control. Nonetheless, listening is far more than being reactive. Listening in on your customers is an extremely insightful experience. Here are 5 social media tools to monitor your brand in internet circles.
Google Alerts:
It is an oldie but still a valuable tool. For instance, it allows users to?create keyword searches?based on the name of their companies or business competitors. As such, users are able to receive updates through their email inboxes or via RSS feeds. When merged with iGoogle, you can set up a rather beautiful consolidated page comprising of all the latest results for the chosen keywords. In terms of social media monitoring, Google alerts is the least you should act upon; not only is it free but very easy to set up.
radian6:
It comes with a striking interaction console that allows you to listen, interact, and plan in one versatile desktop application. It is highly regarded for its ability to check the performance of all services, brands and keywords across all social network platforms all together. This is a great solution that will drive your business to uncharted waters. In terms of performance monitoring, radian6 goes beyond the major social media networks to include blogs, social forums, photographic and video websites, comments and millions of websites available online. Furthermore, this excellent social media monitoring tool?combines data from all areas across the web, filters and separates it, and mentions and chants it on behalf of users based on the different user definable and choose able metrics.
Twazzup:
This is a dashboard app that keeps an eye on Twitter. It focuses mainly on Twitter monitoring. The program will notify you whenever your keywords appear in any tweet. Additionally, it classifies your results through link popularity, tagging clouds, contributors and users. Furthermore, Twazzup is typical of unique features such as avatar mouse-overs which?give more information on the user?s appropriate tweets. These are just but a few of the many features that make Twazzup an amazingly powerful and useful social media monitoring tool.
HootSuite:
It is a well-known tool used to?run multiple accounts?across social media platforms such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Word Press, LinkedIn and Foursquare. Hootsuite doubles up as an account management tool as well as a social media monitoring tool. It terms of social media monitoring, it is valuable as it has a significantly large user network and great functionality. You can post updates in more than one profile, trace click-through, set up timed updates, keep an eye on your social network happenings across several web services, and delegate tasks among group members based on responsibilities.
Scout labs:
While a number of social network monitoring tools can become complicated to make use of, Scout labs uses a plain, easy to use interface that provides powerful data to social markets that proves beneficial when tracking the brand performance. One of its special features allows users to highlight graphs to help examine trends in aggregated data. The dashboard is simple to create and comes with a composite Buzz ranking that enables you?monitor your results with a quick look. Unique categories for internet sentiment, quotes and mentions give you comprehensive knowledge of your data. It?s an excellent choice for agencies as well as freelancers as it gives customers admittance to a dashboard that has your brand logo on it.
Social media is not only an entertainment tool, but a powerful marketing tool for business. By creating your presence in social network platforms, you give your brand virtually unrestricted exposure to potential clients without facing any major cost issues. The important part is to?track your performance across the online world. The above mentioned 5 social media tools are very beneficial in terms of monitoring your brand image across different social media platforms.
Jason Smith is an online manager for?SEO company. Jason likes blogging about online strategies that are related to SEO, Content, PPC & Lead generation.
Source: http://allsocialservices.com/5-social-media-tools-to-monitor-your-brand/
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Uncovering Africa's oldest known penguins
Mar. 26, 2013 ? Africa isn't the kind of place you might expect to find penguins. But one species lives along Africa's southern coast today, and newly found fossils confirm that as many as four penguin species coexisted on the continent in the past. Exactly why African penguin diversity plummeted to the one species that lives there today is still a mystery, but changing sea levels may be to blame, the researchers say.
The fossil findings, described in the March 26 issue of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, represent the oldest evidence of these iconic tuxedo-clad seabirds in Africa, predating previously described fossils by 5 to 7 million years.
Co-authors Daniel Thomas of the National Museum of Natural History and Dan Ksepka of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center happened upon the 10-12 million year old specimens in late 2010, while sifting through rock and sediment excavated from an industrial steel plant near Cape Town, South Africa.
Jumbled together with shark teeth and other fossils were 17 bone fragments that the researchers recognized as pieces of backbones, breastbones, wings and legs from several extinct species of penguins.
Based on their bones, these species spanned nearly the full size spectrum for penguins living today, ranging from a runty pint-sized penguin that stood just about a foot tall (0.3 m), to a towering species closer to three feet (0.9 m).
Only one penguin species lives in Africa today -- the black-footed penguin, or Spheniscus demersus, also known as the jackass penguin for its loud donkey-like braying call. Exactly when penguin diversity in Africa started to plummet, and why, is still unclear.
Gaps in the fossil record make it difficult to determine whether the extinctions were sudden or gradual. "[Because we have fossils from only two time periods,] it's like seeing two frames of a movie," said co-author Daniel Ksepka. "We have a frame at five million years ago, and a frame at 10-12 million years ago, but there's missing footage in between."
Humans probably aren't to blame, the researchers say, because by the time early modern humans arrived in South Africa, all but one of the continent's penguins had already died out.
A more likely possibility is that rising and falling sea levels did them in by wiping out safe nesting sites.
Although penguins spend most of their lives swimming in the ocean, they rely on offshore islands near the coast to build their nests and raise their young. Land surface reconstructions suggest that five million years ago -- when at least four penguin species still called Africa home -- sea level on the South African coast was as much as 90 meters higher than it is today, swamping low-lying areas and turning the region into a network of islands. More islands meant more beaches where penguins could breed while staying safe from mainland predators.
But sea levels in the region are lower today. Once-isolated islands have been reconnected to the continent by newly exposed land bridges, which may have wiped out beach nesting sites and provided access to predators.
Although humans didn't do previous penguins in Africa in, we'll play a key role in shaping the fate of the one species that remains, the researchers add.
Numbers of black-footed penguins have declined by 80% in the last 50 years, and in 2010 the species was classified as endangered. The drop is largely due to oil spills and overfishing of sardines and anchovies -- the black-footed penguin's favorite food.
"There's only one species left today, and it's up to us to keep it safe," Thomas said.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Daniel B. Thomas, Daniel T. Ksepka. A history of shifting fortunes for African penguins. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12024
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/sBXiGc1qknY/130326101606.htm
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Cyprus still groping for a solution to a banking crisis that's roiling Europe
Cyprus lawmakers are facing hard choices. Swallowing a bitter pill in exchange for a European bailout or leaving the eurozone are just two of them.
A woman waits as two people use the ATM machines in central capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday. Cypriot authorities were putting the final touches Friday to a plan they hope will convince international lenders to provide the money the country urgently needs to avoid bankruptcy within days.
Petros Karadjias/AP
EnlargeThe instant saga of Cyprus ? and whether it will go belly up, default, and shake the European, if not the world, economy like some crazed mouse that roared ? continues along with enough hourly news to bring live updates here and here.?
Skip to next paragraph Robert MarquandStaff writer
Over the past three decades, Robert Marquand has reported on a wide variety of subjects for?The Christian Science Monitor, including American education reform,?the wars in the Balkans, the Supreme Court, South Asian politics, and the oft-cited "rise of China." In the past 15 years he has served as the Monitor's bureau chief in Paris, Beijing, and New Delhi.?
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Cyprus has until Monday to come up with $7 billion and a reform plan, or face losing its creditors and sinking into ignominious pools of red ink.
Today the Russians said "nyet" to Cypriot officials, who waited in Moscow for three days?to get a possible bailout. Russian oligarchs hold at least 40 percent of Cyprus bank deposits. Cypriots had hoped, for some reason, that Russia might bail out what is essentially a banking system that thrives on helping the wealthy evade paying Russian taxes.
?The next few hours will determine the future of the country,? Reuters reports?Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides said today, ahead of a vote on a slew of different and changing plans to stay solvent. ?We must all assume our share of the responsibility.??
What first caught world attention was an EU-inspired plan, voted on and killed by Cyprus lawmakers this week, to tax or expropriate private bank deposits in the country. That sent a shudder through the minds of ordinary Europeans, not to mention a lot of Russians and Cypriots themselves.
Yet facing looming insolvency, the largest Cypriot bank today called for the nation?s parliament to levy a tax on holdings over 100,000 euros ($120,000), arguing the alternative is collapse.
Plans on Cypriot tables include the creation of ?good? banks with credible holdings and ?bad? banks with toxic holdings, and to cordon off the bad Greek bank debt whose exposure helped cause the problem in the first place, in the midst of a three-year euro crisis that started in Athens.
EU approval is essential to get the tranche of bailout funds from the European Central Bank. Today the Germans said no to a Cyprus pension raiding scheme that has been floated for days.
Cypriot banks remain closed, ostensibly until Tuesday, when no one knows what will happen; bank ATMs are for now providing petty cash for the commercial sustenance of regular folk and lines are long.
As the world starts to focus on why an island making up 0.2 percent of the EU economic picture could shake world markets, the question is being asked: Why would Cypriot officials turn their island into a quasi-money laundering center for offshore oligarchs and at the same time buy Greek debt that was already shaky ? and imagine this would somehow turn out fine?
Paul Krugman of The New York Times continues to probe the story, writing Thursday that Cyprus has combined on one tiny Mediterranean island all the mistakes made by the European economies of Portugal, Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and so on (the so-called ?PIIGS?) that have helped bring the euro crisis to bloom.?
This includes ?runaway banking,? the all-too familiar real estate bubbles brought by ?massive overvaluation,? and the problem of not having enough productive capacity to pull out of a dive into debt when things went sour.
Mr. Krugman asks:
So then what? As a number of people have pointed out, Cyprus is arguably better positioned than Iceland to do an Iceland, because devaluing a reintroduced Cypriot currency could bring in a lot of tourism. But will the Cypriots ? who haven?t even reconciled themselves to the end of their round-tripping business ? be willing to go there
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SEC approves Nasdaq's Facebook IPO payment plan
NEW YORK (AP) ? The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that it has approved a plan by the Nasdaq stock exchange to pay $62 million in reimbursements to investment firms that lost money because of technical problems during Facebook's initial public offering last year.
The Nasdaq had said in June that it would pay $40 million but later increased the amount to $62 million.
Facebook went public May 18 amid great fanfare, but computer glitches at the Nasdaq delayed the start of trading and threw the debut into chaos. Technical problems kept many investors from buying shares that morning, selling them later in the day or even from knowing whether their orders went through. Some said they were left holding shares they didn't want.
Facebook's stock originally priced at $38 and closed that first day at $38.23 after going as high as $45. The lackluster close disappointed investors who had hoped for a first-day pop. Nasdaq has said that it was embarrassed by the glitches, but that they didn't contribute to the underwhelming returns.
Shares of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook Inc. fell 39 cents to $25.34 in Monday morning trading. The stock has not hit its IPO price since the first day of trading.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sec-approves-nasdaqs-facebook-ipo-payment-plan-133619547--finance.html
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Monday, March 25, 2013
'The Voice': How Did Usher And Shakira Do?
New coaches do anything to get their faves, including Usher dangling Justin Bieber access in front of the singing hopefuls.
By Natasha Chandel
Shakira and Usher on "The Voice"
Photo: Trae Patton/ NBC
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704336/usher-shakira-the-voice-premiere.jhtml
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Central African Republic rebel chief to name power-sharing government
By Ange Aboa and Paul-Marin Ngoupana
BANGUI (Reuters) - The leader of rebels in Central African Republic pledged to name a power-sharing government in a bid to defuse international criticism of Sunday's coup that killed 13 South African soldiers and plunged the mineral-rich nation into chaos.
Regional peacekeepers said that the leader of the Seleka rebel coalition, self-proclaimed President Michel Djotodia, appealed for help in restoring order after his own men joined in a second day of looting in the riverside capital Bangui.
The rebels' ouster of President Francois Bozize was swiftly condemned by the United Nations and the African Union. But in a sign of pragmatism, the United States, France and regional power broker Chad called on the insurgents to respect a January peace deal creating a unity government.
Some 5,000 Seleka fighters swept into the capital on Sunday after a lightning offensive in which they fought their way from the far north to the presidential palace in four days after a the collapse of the power-sharing agreement signed in the Gabonese capital Libreville.
Neighboring Cameroon confirmed on Monday that Bozize had arrived there but said it was not giving him permanent refugee.
The removal of Bozize, who himself seized power in a 2003 coup backed by Chad, was just the latest in a series of rebellions since the poor, landlocked country won independence from France in 1960.
"We will respect the Libreville accord, which means a political transition of 2 to 3 years before elections," Seleka spokesman Eric Massi said by telephone.
The Libreville deal - drafted by regional mediators after the rebels besieged Bangui in December - had created a government drawn from Bozize loyalists, rebel leaders and the civilian opposition.
Massi said that civilian opposition member Nicolas Tiangaye would remain as prime minister with a slightly rejigged cabinet.
In the sprawling capital, 600,000 residents remained without power and running water for a third day, preventing Djotodia from making a planned national address from the presidential palace.
Despite a curfew, there was widespread pillaging of offices, public buildings and businesses by rebels and civilians.
"Public order is the biggest problem right now," said General Jean Felix Akanga, commander of the regional African peacekeeping force. "Seleka's leaders are struggling to control their men. The president has asked us to help restore calm."
He said the rebels would start to confine their forces to barracks from Monday.
"SAD MOMENT" FOR SOUTH AFRICA
With France's military contingent refusing to intervene, two heavily armed columns of insurgents in pick up trucks stormed into Bangui on Sunday, brushing aside a South African force of 400 troops which attempted to block their path.
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said at least 13 soldiers were killed and 27 others wounded in the fighting, the worst military setback for Pretoria since the end of apartheid.
"It is a sad moment for our country," Zuma said, adding that another soldier was still missing. "The actions of these bandits will not deter us from our responsibility of working for peace and stability in Africa."
Zuma said South Africa had not decided yet whether or not to withdraw its force, which he said had inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels during a 9-hour attack on their base.
"This is complete disaster for South Africa," said Thierry Vircoulon, Central African specialist at International Crisis Group. "They did not at all understand they were backing the wrong horse. They did not consult within the region."
Seleka, a loose coalition of five rebel groups whose name means "alliance" in the Songo language, was formed last year after Bozize had failed to implement power-sharing in the wake of disputed 2011 elections boycotted by the opposition.
It resumed hostilities on Thursday after military leaders of the group detained its five members of Bozize's government and accused the president of violating January's peace deal by failing to integrate 2,000 of its fighters into the army.
"The movements that make up Seleka have a long history of divisions," Vircoulon said. "The cohesion of Seleka will be tested now they are in full control."
Despite rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium, Central African Republic remains one of the world's least developed and most unstable nations.
Bozize rose to prominence in the military during the 1966-1979 rule of dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa, a self-styled emperor found guilty of the murder of schoolchildren and other crimes.
In recent years, Bozize's government had hosted U.S. Special Forces helping regional armies hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, led by a Ugandan warlord, who have killed thousands of civilians during decades of conflict.
FRENCH NATIONALS SAFE
Paris, which already had 250 soldiers in Central African Republic, has sent another 300 troops to ensure the security of its citizens and diplomatic missions.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there was no need to evacuate the 1,200 French nationals, most of whom are in the capital. "Things are under control from our point of view regarding French nationals," Fabius said on Europe 1 radio.
French President Francois Hollande spoke to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Chadian President Idriss Deby to suggest that any solution to the crisis should be based on the January Libreville agreement, Fabius added.
France's Defense Ministry said on Monday that French troops patrolling the international airport in Bangui killed two Indian citizens when three vehicles tried to enter the facility.
The ministry said France offered its condolences to India and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was due to speak with his Indian counterpart in the coming hours.
(Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris; Writing by Daniel Flynn and David Lewis; Editing by Peter Graff and Stephen Powell)
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Sunday, March 24, 2013
Realtor reviews in Tucson - Zillow Real Estate Advice
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Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Realtor-reviews-in-Tucson/484385/
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Cyprus races to complete alternative rescue plan
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away.
Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said "significant progress" had been made, and that new legislation raising funds could be completed and debated in Parliament as early as Saturday evening, although the timing was not certain.
Cyprus has been told it must raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in order to secure 10 billion euros in rescue loans from other European countries that use the single currency, and from the International Monetary Fund. The country's lawmakers soundly rejected an unpopular initial plan that would have seized up to 10 percent of people's bank accounts, and is now seeking a way to raise the desperately needed money.
Time is running out fast. The European Central Bank has said it will stop providing emergency funding to Cyprus' banks after Monday if no new plan is in place. Without ECB's support, Cypriot banks would collapse on Tuesday, pushing the country toward bankruptcy and a potential exit from the 17-nation eurozone.
Banks have been shut all week while the plan is put into place, and are not due to reopen until next Tuesday. Cash has been available through ATMs, but many run out quickly, and those machines for the troubled Laiki Bank are only dispensing 260 euros a day.
Nicosia made a significant step towards cementing a new plan Friday night, when its lawmakers approved nine bills, including three crucial ones that will restructure ailing banks, restrict financial transactions in emergencies and set up a "solidarity fund" that will act as the vehicle for raising funds from investments and contributions.
The bank restructuring will include the country's troubled second largest lender, Laiki, which suffered heavy losses after being exposed to toxic Greek debt.
Thousands of angry bank employees afraid of losing their jobs marched through the center of Nicosia to the Finance Ministry and Parliament, some with placards around their necks reading: "No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus." They marched up to the front of the ministry, calling on President Nicos Anastasiades to resign and chanting, "Anas, you took our homes away from us."
Bank employee Zoei Koiachi said: "We are protesting for our jobs, and jobs of all in Cyprus."
The restructuring of Laiki and the sale of the toxic-asset laden Greek branches of Cypriot banks is expected to cut the amount the country needs to raise to about 3 billion euros instead of 5.8 billion euros, officials have said.
Other banks may also be included in the restructuring, such as the country's largest lender, Bank of Cyprus, which was also exposed to Greek debt.
"We have to be clear to protect the financial system and for banks to open Tuesday with a clear picture," Sarris said.
Representatives of the IMF, ECB and European Commission ? collectively known as the troika ? met with Sarris and other officials in the Finance Ministry in the morning, negotiating several new proposals, including a crucial bill that would impose some form of a tax on bank deposits.
The details were still being worked out, but officials have said that the tax could apply to deposits in the country's top two lenders, which were most exposed to bad Greek debt, or even all banks.
Troika consent is essential as they will determine whether the plan that the Cypriots come up with would meet the requirements for the bailout before it is presented to the eurozone finance ministers for final approval.
A eurogroup meeting of the finance ministers will be held in Brussels Sunday evening. Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades was also expected to fly there, though details of the timing was unclear.
"Significant progress has been made toward an agreement at least with the troika which will report to the Eurogroup," Sarris told reporters after the initial morning meeting at his ministry.
"Two or three issues need further work, issues on banks, there are different calculations," Sarris said. "There is the contribution of experts from the private sector."
The experts would hold consultations amongst themselves and officials would resume negotiations with the troika again later Saturday afternoon.
"We have a number of experts that are working from the private sector, at the Central Bank, at the Ministry of Finance trying to iron out these details so that when we do reach an agreement there will be no room for different understanding or misrepresentation."
____
Elena Becatoros in Nicosia contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-racing-complete-alternative-rescue-plan-101417471--finance.html
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