iOS 6.1 Adoption On Track To Be Fastest Yet Says Onswipe, With 22% Of Users On Board In 36 Hours

iOS 6.1 arrived just a couple of days ago, bringing little beyond support for new international LTE carriers and movie ticket purchasing via Siri in the U.S., but it's already been installed on a significant percentage of active iPhones, iPads and iPod touches out there. Onswipe, creators of touch templates for web-based content, have seen adoption of iOS 6.1 rise quickly, from 11.35 percent within the first 24 hours, to 16.92 percent this morning, and up to an impressive 21.81 percent as of 3 PM ET today.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/3_4RFlI7oDE/

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AP Source: Rudy Gay headed to Toronto

Rudy Gay is on his way to Toronto in the latest and most dramatic move in the Memphis Grizzlies makeover, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.

The Grizzlies agreed to trade their star swingman to the Raptors on Wednesday, parting with the leading scorer on a team that has aspirations of making a run in the powerful Western Conference. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced.

The Raptors gave up point guard Jose Calderon and forward Ed Davis in the deal, and another person familiar with the negotiations said the Grizzlies were in discussion with the Detroit Pistons to swap Calderon for Austin Daye and Tayshaun Prince.

The moves surprised many around the league, including Calderon.

"It's been my home for eight years," Calderon said in Atlanta, shortly before leaving the arena. "I've done everything possible for this team. It's tough. The fans have been with me since Day 1. It's tough."

Prince and Daye were both listed as inactive for the game against the Pacers in Indiana on Wednesday night, but a Pistons spokesman decline to comment.

Gay, averaging 17.2 points and 5.9 rebounds, signed a five-year, $82 million maximum contract in July 2010 with Memphis. The 6-foot-8 small forward is due $16.5 million this season with $37 million more over the next two years. That's a big number for new owner Robert Pera, who took over the franchise last November and has quickly started addressing the team's salary situation.

Just over a week ago, the Grizzlies sent valuable reserve Marreese Speights and two other players to Cleveland in a move that cleared $6.4 million in salary and avoided a $4 million luxury tax hit this season. Team officials said that move put the Grizzlies in position not to have to make a move this season.

Memphis coach Lionel Hollins had been lobbying to keep his five starters together the rest of this season, but he apparently lost that fight. It's a significant move for a team that was fourth in the Western Conference and three games behind the third-place Clippers.

"Wow," Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley tweeted.

Trading away Gay also eases a luxury tax hit due next season, while concentrating the team around center Marc Gasol and All-Star forward Zach Randolph. The Grizzlies had their best playoff run in 2011 when they knocked off then-No. 1 seed San Antonio before losing to Oklahoma City in seven games in the Western semifinals ? all with Gay on the bench after needing season-ending shoulder surgery.

"Wow that was 1 crazy trade today," Oklahoma City center Kendrick Perkins tweeted. "Are you serious Rudy Gay is right there under KD, Lebron, Kobe, and Melo. (hashtag)badtrade."

They do run the risk of upsetting the chemistry on a tight-knit group, even if there were some questions of how Gay's scoring fit in with the ball-dominant frontcourt of Gasol and Randolph.

But there may be more deals like this one coming in the new NBA economy.

The collective bargaining agreement negotiated after last year's lockout makes the penalties for exceeding the salary cap far more punitive, and the system begins in earnest next season. Playing in a smaller market, the Grizzlies don't have the extra revenue from lavish television contracts like teams in Los Angeles or New York, which makes it that much more difficult to go over the cap. But even teams such as the Lakers and Bulls will likely have to be more responsible with their spending under the new deal, where repeat offenders are taxed at rates that multiply with each consecutive year they go over the cap.

The first domino fell before the season, when Oklahoma City sent James Harden to Houston instead of signing him to a big-money extension, and more are sure to follow.

All told, the Grizzlies shaved nearly $40 million over the next three years after the two trades.

They'll get a hard-nosed defender in return in Prince, the 32-year-old forward who was the last holdover from the proud Pistons championship team in 2003-04. He is averaging 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season.

Calderon joined the Raptors from Spain in 2005 and has been a fan favorite and trusted veteran on the team. He is averaging 11.1 points and 7.4 assists this season for the Raptors (16-29), who are desperately trying to scratch their way into the playoff picture. Toronto was in 11th place before the games were played Wednesday, 5? games behind Boston for the eight seed.

Calderon and Davis had both been starting for the Raptors, but they do have Kyle Lowry waiting in the wings at point guard and likely see Gay's scoring punch as the key to vaulting back into the discussion in a mediocre conference.

Coach Dwane Casey will have to deal with a bit of a log jam with Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, Landry Fields and Alan Anderson as wing players with similar skill sets. But getting a player with Gay's natural scoring talent, even at the expense of parting with a valued player like Calderon, proved too enticing to pass up.

"Hopefully this team is back to the playoffs as soon as possible," Calderon said.

___

AP Sports Writers Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tenn., Larry Lage in Detroit and freelance writer Amy Jinkner-Lloyd in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-rudy-gay-headed-toronto-232100067--spt.html

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Apple Has Been Granted A Trademark For Its ... - Business Insider

Apple has been granted a trademark by the U.S. government for the design and layout of its retail stores, according to a filing at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The company had applied for the trademark back in 2010 but it was rejected twice before finally being approved now,?according to ifoAppleStore.

The trademark covers the glass storefront, furniture arrangement, shelving, the Genius Bar and more.

In fact, it's quite detailed.

Here's the mark description from the USPTO:

The mark consists of the design and layout of a retail store.

The store features a clear glass storefront surrounded by a paneled facade consisting of large, rectangular horizontal panels over the top of the glass front, and two narrower panels stacked on either side of the storefront.

Within the store, rectangular recessed lighting units traverse the length of the store's ceiling.

There are cantilevered shelves below recessed display spaces along the side walls, and rectangular tables arranged in a line in the middle of the store parallel to the walls and extending from the storefront to the back of the store.

There is multi-tiered shelving along the side walls, and a oblong table with stools located at the back of the store, set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall.

The walls, floors, lighting, and other fixtures appear in dotted lines and are not claimed as individual features of the mark; however, the placement of the various items are considered to be part of the overall mark.

You can check out the filing here at the USPTO's website.?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-store-trademark-2013-1

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Hagel's warning for Iran: 'Window is closing'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel said the "window is closing" on Iran and the possibility of diplomacy if it continues to ignore international demands to end pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

In his first opportunity to express his opinions since President Barack Obama nominated him Jan. 7, Hagel addressed a range of issues, from Iraq and Afghanistan to women in combat, in a 112-page questionnaire for the Senate Armed Services Committee. The panel submitted the extensive questions to Hagel in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

The former two-term Republican senator has faced a barrage of criticism that he is not sufficiently pro-Israel and tough on Iran. In his responses, Hagel adopted a hardline on Iran, echoing Obama's contention that the United States would consider all options, including military action, to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

"If confirmed, I will focus intently on ensuring that U.S. military is in fact prepared for any contingency," Hagel said in response to committee questions.

The United States and other Western nations have demanded that Iran stopped its uranium-enrichment program, which they perceive as a precursor to production of nuclear warhead-grade material. Iran insists that its program is for peaceful purposes.

The most recent round of negotiations ended in a stalemate last June.

"If Iran continues to flout its international obligations, it should continue to face severe and growing consequences," Hagel said. "While there is time and space for diplomacy, backed by pressure, the window is closing. Iran needs to demonstrate it is prepared to negotiate seriously."

In the past, Hagel has questioned the efficacy of unilateral sanctions on Iran, arguing that penalties in conjunction with international partners made more sense.

He said in his response to the committee that he would continue to implement the "smart, unprecedented and effective sanctions against the Iranian regime" that Congress and the Obama administration have adopted in recent years.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hagel-window-closing-iran-diplomacy-170046922--politics.html

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Stable fisher population found in the Southern Sierra Nevada

Jan. 28, 2013 ? After experiencing years of population decline on the West Coast, a recent study examining fisher populations found that -- at least in the southern Sierra Nevada -- the animal's numbers appear to be stable.

Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) and the Pacific Southwest Region collaborated to monitor the distribution of fishers across a 7,606-square-mile area in the southern Sierra Nevada. They used baited track-plate stations -- an enclosure where the fisher leaves a sooted track print as it walks through -- at 223 locations across three national forests. Over an eight-year period, from 2002-2009, they found that the fisher population in the southern Sierra Nevada neither increased nor decreased.

The findings are relatively good news for the cat-sized relative of the weasel family. The forest-dwelling fisher (Martes pennanti) once lived throughout most of the mountains in northern California and the Sierra Nevada, and in the Rocky Mountains, Cascades and Coast ranges. But many populations were eliminated or declined due to commercial trapping and clear-cut timber harvesting. Fishers have been reintroduced at a few locations in the western U.S., but only two native populations -- both centered in California -- remain. The small population of fishers in the southern Sierra has been estimated, by other methods, to be approximately 250 individuals.

"This study is encouraging in that it demonstrates that we can monitor a fisher population over a large area, with simple methods," said Bill Zielinski, a PSW research ecologist who coordinated the analysis of the research data. "It is also encouraging that we did not discover a decreasing trend in the population, but eight years is a relatively short period."

Zielinski noted that given the short time period of this study, the effects of Forest Service management actions to protect fishers and their habitat cannot yet be fully assessed. Further study, over a longer time period is necessary to fully understand the efficacy of these conservation measures. Other factors unrelated to habitat, including road kill and the illegal use of rodenticides which poison the fishers, must also be considered when evaluating the population.

"We hope that we can continue to monitor the fisher, so that we can witness an increase in the population as public and private groups collaborate to institute measures to protect them from various threats," he said.

PSW statistician James Baldwin, along with collaborators Richard Truex, Jody Tucker and Patricia Flebbe from the Pacific Southwest Region, contributed to the study.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by USDA Forest Service - Pacific Southwest Research Station.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. William J. Zielinski, James A. Baldwin, Richard L. Truex, Jody M. Tucker, Patricia A. Flebbe. Estimating Trend in Occupancy for the Southern Sierra Fisher Martes pennanti Population. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, 2012; : 130110154719009 DOI: 10.3996/012012-JFWM-002

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/~3/kxocHOOcXWQ/130128191230.htm

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Altering eye cells may 1 day restore vision

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Working in mice with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that causes gradual blindness, the researchers reprogrammed the cells in the eye that enable night vision. The change made the cells more similar to other cells that provide sight during daylight hours and prevented degeneration of the retina, the light-sensing structure in the back of the eye. The scientists now are conducting additional tests to confirm that the mice can still see.

"We think it may be significantly easier to preserve vision by modifying existing cells in the eye than it would be to introduce new stem cells," says senior author Joseph Corbo, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and immunology. "A diseased retina is not a hospitable environment for transplanting stem cells."

The study is available in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Mutations in more than 200 genes have been linked to various forms of blindness. Efforts are underway to develop gene therapies for some of these conditions.

Rather than seek treatments tailored to individual mutations, Corbo hopes to develop therapies that can alleviate many forms of visual impairment. To make that possible, he studies the genetic factors that allow cells in the developing eye to take on the specialized roles necessary for vision.

The retina has two types of light-sensing cells or photoreceptors. The rods provide night vision, and the cones sense light in the daytime and detect fine visual details.

In retinitis pigmentosa, the rods die first, leaving patients unable to see at night. Daytime vision often remains intact for some time until the cones also die.

Corbo and others have identified several genes that are active in rods or in cones but not in both types of photoreceptors. He wondered whether turning off a key gene that is activated only in rods could protect the cells from the loss of vision characteristic of retinitis pigmentosa.

'"The question was, when retinitis pigmentosa is caused by a mutation in a protein only active in rods, can we reduce or stop vision loss by making the cells less rod-like?" he explains.

The new study focuses on a protein known as Nrl, which influences development of photoreceptors. Cells that make Nrl become rods, while cells that lack the protein become cones. Turning off the Nrl gene in developing mice leads to a retina packed with cone cells.

To see if this rod-to-cone change was possible in adult mice, Corbo created a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa with an Nrl gene that could be switched on and off by scientists.

"In adult mice, switching off Nrl partially converts the rod cells into cone cells," he says. "Several months later, when the mutant mice normally had very little vision left, we tested the function of their retina."

The test showed a healthier level of electrical activity in the retinas of mice that lacked Nrl, suggesting that the mice could still see.

Corbo now is looking for other critical development factors that can help scientists more fully transform adult rods into cones. He notes that if complete conversion of rods to cones were possible, this therapy could also be helpful for conditions where cone cells die first, such as macular degeneration.

###

Montana CL, Kolesnikov AV, Shen SQ, Myers CA, Kefalov VJ, Corbo JC. Reprogramming of adult rod photoreceptors prevents retinal degeneration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, online January 14, 2013.

Washington University School of Medicine: http://www.medicine.wustl.edu

Thanks to Washington University School of Medicine for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126491/Altering_eye_cells_may___day_restore_vision

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Davos Needs Parents of Both Sexes - NYTimes.com

Reporting from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Nicholas Kristof describes a ?sea of men.? In ?She?s (Rarely) the Boss,? he writes that female participation at the ?annual conclave of the presumed powerful? is 17 percent. No word on how many of those 17 percent are mothers of young children, or how many of the 83 percent of male attendees are fathers who made sure to arrange for suitable child care before they came.

Why so few women? Mr. Kristof offers Sheryl Sandberg?s ?provocative? general answer to the question of why women are underrepresented in positions of power from her forthcoming book, ?Lean In?:

?We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in. We internalize the negative messages we get throughout our lives, the messages that say it?s wrong to be outspoken, aggressive, more powerful than men. We lower our own expectations of what we can achieve. We continue to do the majority of the housework and child care. We compromise our career goals to make room for partners and children who may not even exist yet.?

There is something real and important in what she says, Mr. Kristof argues, citing his experiences of men asking questions more readily, along with a McKinsey survey (36 percent of male employees at major companies aspired to be top executives, compared with 18 percent of the women) and a study of Carnegie Mellon M.B.A. graduates in 2003 (57 percent of the men, but only 7 percent of the women, tried to negotiate a higher initial salary offer).

Neither Ms. Sandberg nor Mr. Kristof blames women for the numeric effect of their many failures and compromises, and both give significant weight to history, nature, social mores and the fact that, as Mr. Kristof puts it, ?the modern job was built for the distracted father.? But there is so much more to the story of why women are underrepresented in Davos, in boardrooms and in corporate executive roles.

In a complex, forthcoming study from the researchers Serena Chen at the University of California, Berkeley and Melissa Williams of Emory University, women who were asked to imagine a life in which they made most of the household decisions for a family consisting of a small child and a spouse showed less interest in achieving power in the workplace than women who imagined sharing those household decisions with a spouse, whereas men asked to imagine the same situations showed no change in their workplace ambitions.

A (male) writer, considering this data, produced a piece for The Huffington Post with the headline ?Working Moms Study: Household Managers Found to Have Less Ambition at Work? (The short line in the link? ?working-moms-less-likely-leaders?).

The researchers theorized that women were more likely to value household power, and therefore to feel less hypothetically in need of workplace power (unlike The Huffington Post writer, I find it hard to extrapolate from the imagined desires of research subjects to the real world), but the result was still yet another negative headline about women in the workplace.

This research seems to support Ms. Sandberg?s argument: even women imagining managing a household with a child ?lean back.? But we have to consider the extent to which that household (even the hypothetical household) pushes mothers back.

From birth to age 5 or 6, that single child will need someone present to care for her during every one of her waking and sleeping hours. That care has to be provided by a parent or paid for (and the parent who works at home caring for his or her child is ?paying? for child care in lost earnings elsewhere). Only when she?s old enough for public school does society support ? in the purely economic sense ? the idea that both of that child?s parents could work outside the home, and then one parent is expected (again, in the economic sense of a publicly provided alternative to the child being at home with the parent) to be present after 3 p.m.

Those are cold, hard economic facts (and please understand that they aren?t meant to reflect the very real emotional pleasures and even economic gains of having children). Men, who are accustomed to having women deal most fully with the consequences of that unavoidable requirement, may be more able to see it as less limiting. The fact that the men in the above hypothetical study weren?t daunted by the proposition of being wholly responsible for arranging that care may show an admirable level of ambition, but it may also show a poor grasp of reality.

The most salient line in Ms. Sandberg?s words was this one: ?We continue to do the majority of the housework and child care.? We ? as in, we women ? do, and that makes it difficult. But do we women continue to do the majority of the housework and child care because we want to? Because we have to? Because we?re expected to?

I?m not even sure we know the answer to that question. Regardless, until that greater household burden on women changes, the number of mothers in Davos won?t change. Two things could help: more fathers taking on real equal roles in child-rearing, and more structural support, not for women, but for families. Families who need paid sick leave. Families who need paternity and maternity leave. Families who need access to affordable, high-quality day care, and to birth control, and to preventative health care. (And unless you sprang from the brow of Zeus fully formed, those issues affect those without children as well.)

All of those are economic issues, and they certainly have an economic impact, in different ways, in different societies, worldwide. Lifting families from poverty requires all of those things. So they?ll probably be at least touched on in Davos. But will they be discussed in the same way as if 50 percent of the attendees were women, and if the other 50 percent were men who had always had, and expected to have, a gender-neutral equal role in family life?

No.

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Source: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/davos-needs-parents-of-both-sexes/

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Chris Brown investigated for possible assault

FILE - Singer Chris Brown appears at a news conference to announce his partnership with Ford's Sync, a voice activated hands free in car communication and entertainment system, in this Nov. 2, 2007 file photo taken in New York. Authorities are investigating allegations that Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown assaulted a man in a West Hollywood parking lot Sunday Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)

FILE - Singer Chris Brown appears at a news conference to announce his partnership with Ford's Sync, a voice activated hands free in car communication and entertainment system, in this Nov. 2, 2007 file photo taken in New York. Authorities are investigating allegations that Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown assaulted a man in a West Hollywood parking lot Sunday Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) ? Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown is under investigation for an alleged assault in a West Hollywood parking lot, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said early Monday.

Deputies responding to a report of six men fighting Sunday night found the scene clear, but were told by witnesses that there had been a brief fight over a parking space.

"The altercation allegedly led to Chris Brown punching the victim," the department said in a statement released early Monday morning.

The "victim" wasn't identified but the celebrity website TMZ ? which first reported the fight outside the Westlake Recording Studio ? said it also involved Frank Ocean, one of the top nominees at Grammy Awards next month.

In a Twitter posting later, Ocean said he "got jumped by (Brown) and a couple guys" and suffered a finger cut.

It wasn't Brown's first problem in the run-up to the Grammys. His attack on singer Rihanna on the eve of the 2009 awards event overshadowed the show.

Last June, he was injured in a brawl with members of hip-hop star Drake's entourage at a New York nightclub.

No arrests were made. Brown was gone by the time deputies arrived but the department said the investigation is ongoing and Brown would be contacted later.

Email messages to Ocean's publicist and Brown's lawyer were not immediately returned. A man answering the phone at the recording studio declined to comment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-28-People-Chris%20Brown/id-e7ddacda146c475f884dbcd2ee8781c0

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North Koreans reportedly turn to cannibalism due to 'hidden famine'

News out of North Korean in notorious unreliable, but food shortages in the country have gotten so bad and people so desperate that there are now reports of men murdering their own children for food. These startling reports were compiled by independent reporters?commissioned?by Asia Press, a independent press agency focusing on Asia, and were published by the Sunday Times. And here's one of the most disturbing thing you'll read this morning:?

The source said: "While his wife was away on business he killed his eldest daughter and, because his son saw what he had done, he killed his son as well. When the wife came home, he offered her food, saying: 'We have meat.'

"But his wife, suspicious, notified the Ministry of Public Security, which led to the discovery of part of their children's bodies under the eaves."

And another from Gu Gwang-ho, one of the Asia Press's citizen journalists said:

"There was an incident when a man was arrested for digging up the grave of his grandchild and eating the remains."

The big question here is whether this is all true or new urban legends. Considering this is North Korea and taking into account the country's propensity to keep secrets and publish propaganda pieces?we'll likely never get real confirmation from their end. But Asia Press has worked with citizen reporters in the famine-struck regions of North and South Hwanghae?for the past year, and The Independent considers their reports credible.?

RELATED: North Korea Has Found a Secret Unicorn Lair, Apparently

Sadly, this isn't the first time we've heard reports of cannibalism from North Korea. Back in 2003, during another food shortage there were refugee accounts that people in the country began killing and eating their children and then selling their children's corpses. The Telegraph's Mark Nicol reported at the time:

Aid agencies are alarmed by refugees' reports that children have been killed and corpses cut up by people desperate for food. Requests by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to be allowed access to "farmers' markets", where human meat is said to be traded, have been turned down by Pyongyang, citing "security reasons".

And then there's the fact that we know North Korea was devastated by storms and flooding in the summer of 2012. You can't hide a tropical cyclone.?Thing have grown so desperate,?that they almost took South Korean aid this September,?which is a big deal considering the rocky relationship between the two countries and the North's fierce pride of independence. Reports of previous famines have been well documented and Asia Press claims that as many as 10,000 people may have died because of the "Hidden Famine" this year.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-koreans-reportedly-turn-cannibalism-due-hidden-famine-122128957.html

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The 2012 Los Angeles International Auto Show: Automakers Keep ...

Although southern California is celebrated as a sports car mecca, sport utility vehicles of every size and type were among the biggest hits at the 2012 Los Angeles International Auto Show. More than 40 different brands parked their new models and concept renditions on the ?red carpet? at the Los Angeles Convention Center, as 50 new vehicles made their premier entrance or global debut. The LAIAS is among the most significant shows in annual big-city show season in the U.S. and the home of the Greater Los Angeles Auto Dealers Association (GLANCDA), the umbrella organization for local and regional dealers. The LAIAS is followed by 2013 auto shows in Detroit (January), Chicago (February), New York (April) and other cities across the nation.

The eyes of the world were on ?The City of Angels? as the world?s top manufacturers and members of the international and national automotive press, and approximately one million auto enthusiasts came together in the country?s largest performance car market. In addition to the dazzling and desirable sheet metal, autowriters and visitors were able to check out new and innovative automotive technology, as well as aftermarket offerings for all types of vehicles. There was also a collection of classic and historical models. My automotive career started at Four Wheeler magazine and, as a result, I have developed a partiality for light trucks?a category that includes SUVs and pickups, and I have a love of performance--and a passion for racing both trucks and SUVs. I?ve been privileged to race in the two top 4WD races on the planet-the Dakar and the Baja 1000- motoring in a cadre of models that have ranged from small (the Kia Sportage) to tall (the Ford Raptor) to a granddaddy of them all (the Hummer H1). I not only love off-road racing, but also know that it?s used as a ?test bed? for vehicles and new automotive equipment. You could say the same about auto shows to some degree, as there is opportunity to garner fanfare for new models and vehicle technologies, as well as to test the waters for new designs, new color pallets and far-out ideas that we might even see at a dealership and use onboard our personal vehicles sometime soon.

The LAIAS is truly a show of strength in the industry and a showplace for designers and engineers that are charged to create the future?and LA is where creativity lives! Among the captivating unveilings, all enhanced by bold musical and visual entertainment (think Golden Globes or Oscars!), there was an assortment of sport utility vehicles, one of the top-selling and most-popular segments of the automotive world today. Today?s SUVs are stronger, smarter and more savvy, and are notably smaller than the behemoths of the nineties and early 2000?s-era, although almost all have more room. And, they are also dressed with more ?jewelry?, with bigger and bolder grilles, clever lighting design and flashy wheels, regardless of whether their mission is more militaristic or for the country club. Note: there were no pickup trucks brought to the show, which are often introduced in Detroit, Chicago or New York. Following are the evocative SUVs that took Top Honors in my book and a few that were engaging and deserve honorable mentions? a few of my favorite things:

Top Honors: Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force?This concept knocked my socks off! Inspired by the uber-capable Mercedes G-Class SUV, the concept is beastly-looking but uses a ?hydro tech converter? (just say fuel cell technology!) that can travel some 500 miles converting water to hydrogen and has a 360-degree top that police might use to patrol the streets-some say it might be a replacement for the G-Wagen, used by the military and extreme off-roaders.

I also liked the real-time Mercedes GL63 AMG with the gallop power of 550 horses and a top speed of 174 mph-who said SUVs were boring! The 3-row, 7-seater could appeal to millionaire mommies like, say, Posh Spice!! BMW X1 K2 BMW boasts that this ?Powder Ride? concept is an automotive driving machine with a design hat that morphs a car and motorcycle, airplane and train and still contains the aesthetics of sustainability-Wow-zah! There?s an aluminum roof-rack top for skis and cargo boxes. Love the Valencia Orange paint job, with Ferric Gray trim accents; dark-tinted windows; cool wheels; LED spotlights; wood and black leather inside, with orange stitching. BMW also updated its 2013 X1 compact crossover, now coming to showrooms and ski slopes near you!

The Bavarians also bring a ski-themed, special edition model called the Powder Ride edition bundles K2 skis. But, of course! 2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 10th Anniversary Special Edition?The unforgiving ? Ruby? turns 10 years old and carries enough beefy, backcountry cred to make it over the legendary Rubicon Trail in northern California with nary a scratch! Two wheelbases, Sunrider or optional hardtop, red leather seats with anniversary embroidery. As a back-roader and 4WD enthusiast, I love the set-up on this model. Blow out the candles, Jeep! Honorable Mention: Nissan Hi-Cross Concept-This sculpted hybrid concept seats seven runs on both electric and gas-not a new concept but, the word on the streets is this Japanese automaker plans to bring it stateside. We need all the fuel savings we can get! Toyota RAV4- The importance is this model is its history; what began in 1996 created a new culture, and secured some awards for the young and active seeking efficiency and the ability to carry a bit of gear. A new theme-Let?s Go Places-gets a new Adventure?s APP that is dialed for the 150 places it is sold around the globe. All new for this year, it sheds the third row and V-6 engine.

2014 Subaru Forester and 2014 Forester Turbo (a meld of SUV capability and WRX know-how, says Subie!) It?s crazy popular for a few reasons: all-wheel-drive traction, decent fuel economy and a modest price, among them; and Subaru will keep its price modest in the low 20?s. Uplevel models will get a new Eyesight driver assistance system and Starlink infotainment, as well as Hill Descent Control. 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe-This updated SUV (Santa Fe Sport) now gets a stablemate that?s 8.5? longer, with three rows of seats; it holds more people, more cargo volume and a new power liftgate. Other goodies include heated rear seats! 2014 Kia Sorento-Built on a new platform, with a panoramic roof that lets the sun shine in, gets new mechanicals and a new interior.

Related articles

Source: http://caradvice.askpatty.com/ask_patty_/2013/01/the-2012-los-angeles-international-auto-show-automakers-keep-the-sport-in-sport-utes.html

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Bank of Italy board meets to assess Monte Paschi crisis

ROME (Reuters) - The four-member board of the Bank of Italy was meeting on Saturday to consider the position of scandal-hit bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena and decide whether to authorize its request for 3.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion) of state loans.

Italy's third-largest bank this week revealed loss-making derivatives trades that could cost it about 720 million euros, causing heavy losses in its shares and prompting questions about how the risky deals could have been hidden from regulators.

This issue has shot to the centre of the campaign for next month's national election and politicians have blamed the Bank of Italy, which was led by current European Central Bank president Mario Draghi at the time of the deals, for failing to spot the problem.

At Saturday's meeting chaired by current Bank of Italy (BOI)Governor Ignazio Visco, the board will consider whether Monte Paschi meets the requirements of current and future stability necessary to receive the state loans it has requested.

Visco told reporters on Friday that "there is no question that the bank is stable."

The meeting began on Saturday morning, a BOI spokeswoman said, and the central bank is expected to issue a statement when it ends.

At a stormy meeting in Monte Paschi's Tuscan headquarters of Siena on Friday, its shareholders approved two capital increases of up to 6.5 billion euros to be carried out if needed in the next five years, which are a condition of the state bailout.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti said late on Friday he considered it a "remote hypothesis" that the bank would end up needing to be nationalized.

Visco attended the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday where he gave a spate of interviews to try to deflect accusations that the BOI had not done its job properly.

"It is wrong to insinuate that there was a lack of supervision by the Bank of Italy," he told CNBC television, adding that his institution had nothing to hide and would cooperate with prosecutors probing the Tuscan lender.

Draghi also delivered a speech in Davos but took no questions from reporters.

Visco's task was made more difficult by a report in the Corriere della Sera daily on Friday which included excerpts of a document drafted by six BOI inspectors expressing concerns over the two main trades under scrutiny as long ago as 2010.

That report would have been sent to the BOI's head of bank supervision at the time, Anna Maria Tarantola, who has since left the bank to become president of state broadcaster RAI.

In Davos, Visco sidestepped questions about whether Draghi knew about the derivatives trades, which were conducted between 2006 and 2009 and involved Japanese bank Nomura and Deutsche Bank .

Internal auditors at Monte Paschi already detected anomalies at the bank's finance department responsible for derivative operations three years ago, daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday, quoting parts of the audit dated November 26, 2009.

However, the outcome of the audit was "partially favorable" for the Siena-based bank, contrasting with "partially unfavorable" rating given by Bank of Italy inspectors led by Vincenzo Cantarella at the end of an inspection from May-August 2010.

Press reports on Saturday suggest the scandal around Monte Paschi is widening. Corriere della Sera said prosecutors are investigating a large number of derivatives contracts and suspect possible accounting fraud and corruption. ($1 = 0.7421 euros)

(Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-italy-board-meets-assess-monte-paschi-crisis-120432200--finance.html

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Deal of the Day ? Dell XPS 12 Core i5 convertible 1080p tablet with Windows 8

LogicBUY’s Deal for Sunday is the newest, configurable 12.5″ Dell?XPS 12 Core-i5 convertible tablet, starting at?$1,149.99. ?Features: 4GB RAM 128GB solid-state drive Windows 8 12.5? full 1080p HD, 400-nit touch screen display with 160-degree viewing angle Converts from laptop to tablet mode Construction materials:?machined aluminum, bonded Corning Gorilla Glass, carbon fiber $1199.99 – $50 coupon [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/01/27/deal-of-the-day-dell-xps-12-core-i5-convertible-1080p-tablet-with-windows-8/

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Tiny Colin Kaepernick Jersey Tips For Big Improvements Inside ...

As individuals age and start to older, they generally Colin Kaepernick Jersey aim to boost certain elements of their lifestyle they don?t discover fulfilling. From fiscal to emotional to actual requires, personal-help methods and applications are becoming more popular then ever. The following advice supply you with all the essential information you need concerning how to improve your lifestyle, no matter what element of it you find missing.

If you don?t have the time to analyze officially but you truly want to enhance your understanding in regards to a specific area there are a few great sources online. There is certainly one particular internet site known as Khan?s academy that may in fact offer you cost-free videos of each and every issue that one could visualize filled with activities Colin Kaepernick Jersey to be effective on.

Realizing your home from the world defines your position inside it. You happen to be tiny cog within a huge machine so far as the universe is concerned. This does not reduce your value to make transform, however it should serve as a humbling point to basic your steps from. It will take a lot of little cogs to generate the greater active that movements the world.

Like you would with any other aim, attempt setting an agenda for working out. An excellent weekly routine is able to keep you on keep track of and stop you from failing to remember or being forced to reschedule your weekly regimens. This really is a great way to continue to be motivated and get to your exercise and fat loss desired goals.

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To increase your chances of accomplishment gain knowledge from others? faults. There are numerous blogs, books and cost-free training seminars that you can participate in that will help you set up your own goals and rules. This beneficial advise can present you with route and help you prevent mistakes nonetheless, if you do make a mistake, and you will, study from it and Colin Kaepernick Jersey move ahead.

Striving to boost your life or oneself is actually an aim that a great many men and women have in common. While many difficulties are simpler to solution as opposed to others, any scenario can boost with the correct sort of self-help. Since the above ideas have demostrated you, there are various things you can do to make your way of life more gratifying and gratifying.

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Source: http://www.kratkeclanky.cz/2013/01/tiny-colin-kaepernick-jersey-tips-for-big-improvements-inside-your-self-improvement-initiatives/

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Apogee One for iOS and Mac (hands-on)

Apogee strolled into NAMM with a trio of wares newly outfitted for both iOS and Mac. While the Duet and Quartet are certainly formidable pieces of recording kit, the more compact Apogee One caught our eye for its dual capture ability without adding too much heft to the ol' backpack. The unit accepts input from a built-in mic and either a XLR or 1/4-inch analog input -- both of which connect via a two-headed Y-cable. From there, the One connects to a power supply and either your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or Apple computer of choice for that dual-tracking capture. After seeing the device up close and spending a few minutes handling it, our main gripe remains the lack of a Lightning connection. Sure it's great that we can outfit our iDevices, but we'd love to see an included cable for the latest port to come out of Cupertino rather having to locate an adapter.

Without being able to capture a solid vocal track on the bustling show floor here at NAMM, we unfortunately can't speak to the quality of that on-board condenser microphone. However, the One seemed to handle guitar licks quite well when recorded with GarageBand on an iPad mini. As we've mentioned before, the outfit has also outed its Maestro app for low-latency monitoring and a bit more control over how matters progress. Aside from all of that, the gadget sports a similar dial knob to that of the original release for selecting functions and controlling input / output levels with dual LED stacks for a visual indicator of said signals. The One wields the same solid build quality that we've come to expect from Apogee based on a few of the other products we've spent extended time with. For a quick walkthrough, take a look at the video that lies beyond the break.

Gallery: Apogee One for iOS and Mac hands-on

Update: Apogee has passed along the info via the comments below that a Lightning cable is on the way in Q2 and that users shouldn't experience any difference in performance with the adapter that they'll need in the meantime.

James Trew contributed to this report.

Filed under: Misc

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/dBqHbFvGsrQ/

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Fab Sale Roundup: GILT Baby & Kids, gDiapers and More!

Check out our roundup of this week's best mommy and baby deals.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/WPsz5KR3eS4/

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Former CIA agent gets 30 months in leak case

Jacquelyn Martin/ AP file

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, left, and defense attorney John Hundley, leave federal court in Alexandria, Va., in January 2012.

By Kari Huus, Staff Writer, NBC News

A former CIA agent was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Friday for revealing the identity of CIA operative involved in the agency?s harsh handling of alleged terrorists.

John Kiriakou, 48, who?was among the first government officials to confirm the CIA?s use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation measures, had been accused of disclosing classified information to reporters and lying about the source of other information he published in a book.

But Kiriakou pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by leaking?the identity of an agent to a reporter.?

The sentencing in federal court in Alexandria, Va., was the result of?a plea deal between defense and prosecutors. Kiriakou's defense team failed to persuade the judge that his release of information was the act of a whistle blower concerned about practices used in the war on terrorism in the name of the United States.

---

"I think 30 months is way too light," said U.S. District Court Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in Alexandria, Va. She went on to describe the damage that Kiriakou had caused the agency and the agent whose cover was made public, according to The New York Times' account.

"This is not a case of a whistleblower," Brinkema said.?"This is a case of a man who betrayed a solemn trust."

Many of the details of Kiriakou?s alleged disclosures were kept under wraps by the Justice Department in its original criminal filing,?the Washington Post??reported. But the complaint suggested that he provided information that was the basis for stories by the Times and other news organizations in 2008 and 2009 about sensitive post-9/11 CIA operations, it said.

The information included the capture and interrogation, including waterboarding, of key suspects, including Abu Zubaida and Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Information and photographs supplied to journalists by Kiriakou ultimately came into play in the defense of these high-value detainees, the Justice Department said.

Kiriakou worked for the CIA from 1990 to 2004.

After a 2007 interview with ABC News,?during which Kiriakou provided a description of the waterboarding?of Abu Zubaida, he was frequently sought out by the media for interviews.

He went on to publish his memoir, "The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror," in 2010.

Prosecutors accused Kiriakou of using media attention to get consulting work and sell copies of his book, the?Post reported.?

The FBI arrested him on?Jan. 23, 2012, and he pleaded guilty to a violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.

Kiriakou did not speak at Friday?s proceedings. However, Kiriakou?s lawyer, Robert Trout, said his client did not intend to harm the United States or "cause injury to anyone."

"He was concerned about certain practices that were employed in the war against terror," Trout said.

Since 2009, the Obama administration has charged five other current or former government officials with leaking classified information, the Times reported.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16701606-former-cia-agent-gets-30-months-for-leaking-operatives-name?lite

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WikiCancel Is a Collection of Guides to Closing All Your Accounts

Sometimes the directions for closing an account on an online service are buried deep in a web site and impossible to find. WikiCancel is a wiki page that lists the cancellation procedures for popular services, subscriptions, and contracts.

WikiCancel works like any other wiki page. Click a link for a service you want to close, and WikiCancel shows you exactly how to do it. That in itself is handy, but WikiCancel also shows you how to cancel magazine subscriptions, and walks you through the closing contract services like a cell phone or internet. For contracts, it also usually includes the ways you avoid the cancellation fees when closing your account.

Of course, it's possible to get out of a cell phone contact without paying termination fees, and every once and a while a retention department will offer you a deal you can't refuse when you try to cancel. So, keep that in mind.

WikiCancel is a wiki, so if it looks like a few services are missing, feel free to add to the list to make it better. As for the bulk of your online accounts, check out the previously mentioned AccountKiller. If you've managed to forget where you even have accounts, dig through your email or old passwords to find old services you might not remember having.

WikiCancel | via Swiss Miss

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/dCoWHXjNpik/wikicancel-is-a-collection-of-guides-to-closing-all-your-accounts

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Women's Lung Cancer Death Risk Rises

Female smokers are more likely to die from lung cancer now than a few decades ago, a new study says.

In the 1960s, female smokers were 2.7 times more likely to die from lung cancer compared with women who didn't smoke. By the 1980s, women who smoked were 12.6 times more likely to die from lung cancer, and in the 2000s, they were 25.7 times more likely to die from lung cancer, the study found.

The dramatic increase reflects changes in smoking patterns among women that began in the 1960s. (Because lung cancer takes years to develop, changes in smoking patterns would not start to influence deaths until many years later.)

In the '60s, more women started smoking during their teenage years (a trend that men had already embraced during the 1930s). The number of cigarettes smoked per day was highest in men in the 1970s, and highest in women in the 1980s.

The findings confirm the prediction that "women who smoke like men die like men," the researchers write in the Jan. 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The risk of death from lung cancer among male smokers has been level since the 1980s, and is about the same as the risk of death from lung cancer among female smokers today.

The risk of death from chronic obstructive lung disease continues to increase in both sexes.

This increase may be due in part to the introduction of ?blended tobacco lowering the pH of cigarette smoke, making the smoke easier to inhale deeper into the lungs, said study researcher Dr. Michael Thun, former vice president emeritus of the American Cancer Society. ?

The good news is that quitting smoking at any age lowers the risk of death from smoking-related diseases, though quitting before the age of 40 is particularly effective at cutting risk, the researchers said. [See Quitting Smoking Lengthens Women's Lives.]

The study included information from more than 2.2 million adults ages 55 and older.

Pass it on: The risk of death from lung cancer in female smokers has increased in recent years.

Follow Rachael Rettner on Twitter @RachaelRettner, or MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

Copyright 2013 MyHealthNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/womens-lung-cancer-death-risk-rises-220836963.html

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RIM notes 'remarkable' number of app submissions, extends $10,000 incentive deadline

After unveiling its new BlackBerry World app hub (music and video still incoming), its dev blog has now announced that RIM will be extending its Built for BlackBerry scheme. Intended to draw in even more native apps for its new mobile platform, the final cut-off date has now been moved from January 21st to February 18th. Talking to German paper, Die Welt, CEO Thorsten Heins recently backed up claims that BlackBerry's new OS would launch with 70,000 apps, although we all know that quality trumps quantity -- something that RIM aims to address. If devs submit an app that makes over $1,000 but less than $10,000, the Waterloo phonemaker will fork out the difference -- app authors can also submit their programs for approval without charge. If you're hungry for some app-based paychecks, check on the detailed criteria at our second source link.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, RIM

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Via: TNW

Source: BlackBerry Dev Blog, Built for BlackBerry criteria

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Russia holds out olive branch to U.S., but chides West

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia held out an olive branch to the United States on Wednesday by calling for an improvement in ties, but chided Washington over "odious" human rights legislation and denounced Western policy on Syria.

Setting out Russia's policy agenda for 2013 at an annual news conference, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear that improving relations with Washington was part of Moscow's vision for strengthening its influence on the world stage.

"On issues where we have disagreements, we can look for ways to prevent these problems making the whole atmosphere worse and stopping us cooperating," he said, reiterating a hope that U.S. President Barack Obama would accept an invitation for a summit with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this year.

However, he signaled no change in Russia's stance on Syria, where Moscow is President Bashar al-Assad's main protector.

Criticizing the West on several fronts, he made clear Russia would be resolute in its defense of national interests.

"Russian-U.S. relations are going through far from the best of times," said Lavrov, a 62-year-old veteran diplomat who has won a reputation as a tough negotiator since becoming foreign minister in 2004.

He described U.S. legislation enacted last month to punish Russians suspected of human rights abuses as odious, and criticized a U.S. judge's recent ruling in a dispute over a collection of Jewish writings held in Russia.

But he made clear he wanted to draw a line under the dispute over the Magnitsky Act, to which Russia responded by approving similar legislation against U.S. citizens and banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans.

He underlined the need for "stable, mutually beneficial cooperation", particularly in investment and trade.

Obama has not responded to Russia's invitation to meet Putin in Moscow and diplomats say he is likely to agree to hold a full summit only if he thinks progress can be made there.

Ties between the two former Cold war enemies improved after Obama sought a "reset" in relations four years ago but have worsened again since then, particularly as Putin implemented what the United States saw as a crackdown on opponents.

STANDING FIRM ON SYRIA

Washington and Moscow, which are both nuclear powers, also differ over the development of a missile defense system on Russia's doorstep in eastern Europe and over the conflict in Syria.

Moscow has blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions intended to force Assad out of power or press him to end the bloodshed, and shows no sign of changing its position.

Lavrov said Moscow was talking to all sides in the conflict and making a genuine effort to end it, but implied its Western partners were less committed to finding a solution.

"We often talk to them about that. They seem to understand it all, and the threat accompanying the prospect of the break-up of the Syrian state," he said. "But when they speak in public they say somewhat different things, differing from what they are telling us privately.

This criticism was one of several barbs directed at the West which underlined Lavrov's reputation as a man who does not mince his words. Like Putin, who began a new six-year term as president last May and is often harsh in his criticism of the West, he mixed promises of cooperation with tough rhetoric.

Lavrov warned Israel and its Western allies, who are led by the United States, against any military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran developing nuclear arms. This, he said, was a "very, very dangerous idea".

He was in line with other world powers, however, when asked about North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, urging Pyongyang to adhere to international restrictions on its work.

His remarks increased pressure on North Korea to abide by U.N. Security Council resolutions banning it from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests.

Summing up Moscow's aims in 2013, Lavrov said the world was going through a transitional period towards a new balance of power and Russia's main goal was to ensure policies that underline collective action and reasonable compromise rather than the use of force to end conflicts.

(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-says-u-rights-law-odious-wants-constructive-074723474.html

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Asteroid mining: Second company announces plans. Time to stake a claim?

Deep Space Industries said Tuesday it plans to launch small prospector missions to asteroids beginning in 2015. The goal of asteroid mining is to make space exploration more affordable.

By Pete Spotts / January 22, 2013

Meteorites sit on a display table at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, Calif., Jan. 22, where Deep Space Industries announced plans for the world's first fleet of commercial asteroid-prospecting spacecraft

Jonathan Alcorn / Reuters

Enlarge

Asteroids aren't just for dodging anymore. Less than a year after a company called Planetary Resources announced plans to survey, then mine, asteroids, a second company has set out its plans to turn orbiting piles of cosmic rubble into rocket fuel, solar panels, and trusses for spacecraft hundreds to thousands of miles above Earth.

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Suddenly asteroid mining has the potential of becoming a competitive field.

The ultimate goal is to make space exploration and development more affordable by obtaining fuel and construction material from easy-to-reach sources that flit past Earth all the time, rather than the costlier method of hauling everything up from Earth.

As a start, representatives of Deep Space Industries (DSI) on Tuesday outlined the company's plans to launch small prospector missions to asteroids beginning in 2015. A year later, the firm plans to launch its first sample-return mission, which aims to bring back samples of an asteroid not by the cupful, but in 60- to 150-pound quantities.

Such amounts not only would present a bonanza for the research community. They also would provide pristine test material for mining, refining, and manufacturing techniques the company is developing for use in space.

To company chairman Rick Tumlinson, DSI's ultimate goals represent a logical next step beyond government-sponsored exploration programs. He drew an analogy between NASA's human-spaceflight program and the Lewis and Clark Expedition under Thomas Jefferson, which was followed by a westward flow of settlers.

"We are the settlers and shopkeepers" heading into this latest frontier, he added.

Over the past 32 years, astronomers have discovered about 9,000 near-Earth asteroids, largely with the goal of assessing the risk of a collision with Earth. But among those 9,000, about 1,700 require only about as much energy to reach as a trip to the moon ? an alluring prospect for cosmic prospectors interested in exploiting the asteroids' resource potential.

For all the various elements asteroids may provide ? from platinum to iron and silicon ? perhaps the most immediately valuable resource they carry is water ice, which can be used to make rocket fuel.

Therein lies the early money, according to officials with DSI and with Planetary Resources.

One early market, DSI officials say, could well be communications satellites. These run out of fuel long before their hardware fails. Although in principle these satellites could be refueled, sending that fuel from Earth is prohibitively expensive. So, before their tanks run dry, they must be sent to graveyard orbits where they won't collide with other satellites and become space junk. Fuel manufactured in space from water ice liberated from asteroids, however, could extend the operating life of a satellite.

Each month of additional service is worth another $5 million to $8 million to a communications-satellite operator, notes David Gump, DSI's chief executive officer.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Xo6tcHl5QMQ/Asteroid-mining-Second-company-announces-plans.-Time-to-stake-a-claim

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Kurd murder suspect placed under investigation in France

PARIS (Reuters) - A suspect detained last week over the killing of three Kurdish rebel activists in Paris was placed under formal investigation for murder on Monday, the Paris prosecutor said.

Thirty-year-old Omer Guney was the driver of one of the women who were shot in the head on January 9 at an institute linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Prosecutor Fran?ois Molins said.

Guney, who told prosecutors he had been a PKK member for two years, denied the charges.

"The presence of Omer Guney in the apartment within the time frame during which the triple murder took place, and without an explanation from him, gives us serious clues that suggest his participation in the acts committed on January 9," Molins said.

According to investigators, video surveillance showed that Guney was in the apartment, or at least in the building, for 45 minutes at around the time of the murders.

One of the victims was a founding member of the PKK - which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 with the aim of carving out a Kurdish homeland in the southeast of Turkey.

The PKK has blamed the killings on shadowy elements within the Turkish state - which considers it a terrorist organization - or foreign powers.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said initial evidence in the triple murder suggested the motive may be an internal feud in the PKK or a desire to derail peace talks.

The Turkish government announced this month that it had begun discussing with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan how to end the conflict.

(Reporting by Nicolas Bertin; Writing by Vicky Buffery and John Irish; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kurd-murder-suspect-placed-under-investigation-france-184248701.html

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Te'o to be interviewed by Katie Couric

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o takes the field during senior day before an NCAA college football game against Wake Forest in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story of Te'o's girlfriend dying of leukemia _ a loss he said inspired him to play his best all the way to the BCS championship _ was dismissed by the school Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o takes the field during senior day before an NCAA college football game against Wake Forest in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story of Te'o's girlfriend dying of leukemia _ a loss he said inspired him to play his best all the way to the BCS championship _ was dismissed by the school Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

In a photo provided by ESPN, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o pauses during an interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap, right, on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Bradenton, Fla. ESPN says Te'o maintains he was never involved in creating the dead girlfriend hoax. He said in the off-camera interview: "When they hear the facts they'll know. They'll know there is no way I could be a part of this." (AP Photo/ESPN Images, Ryan Jones) MANDATORY

In a photo provided by ESPN, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o pauses during an interview with ESPN on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Bradenton, Fla. ESPN says Te'o maintains he was never involved in creating the dead girlfriend hoax. He said in the off-camera interview: "When they hear the facts they'll know. They'll know there is no way I could be a part of this." (AP Photo/ESPN Images, Ryan Jones) MANDATORY CREDIT

In this Sept. 15, 2012 photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o points to the sky as he leaves the field after a 20-3 win against Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. In a shocking announcement, Notre Dame said Te'o was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose "death" from leukemia was faked by perpetrators of an elaborate hoax. (AP Photo/South Bend Tribune, James Brosher) MANDATORY CREDIT

FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o answers a question during NCAA college football media day in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story of Te'o's girlfriend dying of leukemia _ a loss he said inspired him to play his best all the way to the BCS championship _ was dismissed by the school Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond, File)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) ? Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o will be interviewed by Katie Couric, the first on-camera interview given by the All-American since news broke about the dead girlfriend hoax.

Te'o and his parents will appear on Couric's syndicated daytime talk show Thursday. ABC News announced the interview Sunday, but gave no details as to when it will take place and where.

Te'o gave an off-camera interview with ESPN on Friday night. He insists he was the victim of the hoax, not a participant. The Heisman Trophy runner-up said he had an online romance with a woman he never met and in September was informed that the woman died from leukemia.

Te'o told ESPN that the person suspected of being the mastermind of the hoax has contacted him and apologized.

Couric, now a special correspondent for ABC News, formerly worked as the anchor for the CBS Evening News and was a co-host of NBC's Today Show.

The strange tale of Te'o apparently being duped by an elaborate hoax, pulled off by a California man, has put the Heisman Trophy finalist in national headlines ? from the Wall Street Journal to TMZ. In the

The man he said apologized to him for pulling the scam, 22-year-old Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, has not spoken publicly. He and his family have decline the AP's numerous requests for interviews.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Te'o reached out to his coaches and university officials on Dec. 26, and the school commissioned an investigation that he said confirmed Te'o was not involved in the hoax. The school received the findings of the investigation on Jan. 4, three days before Notre Dame played Alabama in the BCS title game.

A Notre Dame spokesman said some school administrators thought they should release what they knew about what the hoax as soon as they became aware of it, but the university ultimately decided to let Te'o and his family be first to go public with the story.

Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune in a story published Sunday that university officials decided disclosing the information about the hoax before the BCS championship in Miami would not be in the best interest of the teams or the individuals involved.

The hoax about Te'os dead girlfriend became public Wednesday when it was reported by Deadspin.com. Swarbrick held a news conference later that day to discuss what Notre Dame knew, and gave full support to Te'o. Later, Swarbrick said the family had intended to speak publicly about the hoax Jan. 21.

Brown said the university was "utterly stunned" when Te'o informed them about details of the hoax on Dec. 26 and had a "difficult time getting our arms around it."

Te'o met with Swarbrick for nearly two hours on Dec. 27 after returning to campus to give a full account of his relationship with the online woman he knew as Lennay Kekua, and then again the next day, Brown said.

How the university should proceed was the topic of discussions between top administrators for a week, Brown said.

The university hired outside investigators on Dec. 29.

"We asked them to focus on any threats to the university or its reputation, by providing more information about the so-called Kekua family that might help us understand motives, or whether they might have had any contact with others at Notre Dame," said Brown, who declined to name the firm.

The investigators were in touch the next day, telling the university they could find no evidence of a Lennay Kekua or any of the relatives she had told Te'o about in several "sophisticated databases" the firm used. Brown said the investigators concluded "the entire family was fictitious, because of their inability to find them, and that the investigation should turn to trying to identify the woman who had been talking to Manti."

Investigators determined the address the woman had given Te'o was real, with a house there that belonged to members of a family named Tuiasosopo, including Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.

Brown said the investigators hired by Notre Dame didn't try to reach Tuiasosopo or his relatives.

The university officials told the newspaper the investigators did not examine cellphone records, emails or other electronic communication to determine the length or extent of Te'o's communication over the past few years with the person claiming to be Kekua, nor did the university ask Te'o to take a lie detector test.

The school informed Teo's parents, Brian and Ottilia, about the investigation results on Jan. 5.

___

Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-20-Notre%20Dame-Te'o/id-bd880b433a1f4cb9b7c2fd663fed2289

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