Japan intervenes to tame soaring yen ahead of G20 (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan intervened to weaken the yen after the currency hit a record high against the dollar on Monday, saying it acted to counter speculative moves that did not reflect the health of the Japanese economy.

The dollar spiked after the intervention as much as 4 percent past 79 yen from around 75.65 yen. The dollar touched a record low of 75.31 yen earlier on Monday.

Finance Minister Jun Azumi said Tokyo stepped into the market for the second time in less than three months on its own at 10:25 a.m. local time (0125 GMT) and would continue to intervene until it was satisfied with the results.

"I have repeatedly said that we would take decisive steps against speculative moves in the market," Azumi told an ad-hoc news conference.

Azumi would not comment on the size of the intervention, but one trader said the authorities were intervening "quite persistently."

"My sense is that they might not quit very easily," a trader said. The trader added, however, that dollar/yen may start to become heavy at levels above 79 yen.

Tokyo's second foray into currency markets since its record 4.5 trillion yen selling intervention on August 4, follows weeks of warnings by government and central bank officials that their patience with the currency's strength was wearing thin.

Even though the yen's exchange rate when measured against a trade-weighted basket of currencies and adjusted for inflation is not far from its 30-year average, it has been trading at much stronger levels against the dollar than one assumed by Japanese exporters in their earnings projections.

Last Thursday, acting in part out of concern that the yen's impact on corporate profits could derail Japan's recovery from the March earthquake and tsunami, the Bank of Japan eased its monetary policy by boosting government bond purchases.

But the easing failed to take the pressure off the yen, which continued to climb against the U.S. dollar -- underpinned by investors seeking relative safety in the currency from the European debt crisis.

Yunosuke Ikeda, senior FX strategist at Nomura Securities, said last week's central bank easing and Monday's intervention could be an effective combination.

"It was very good timing. The BOJ has prepared the ground by easing last week. Speculators' yen-buying position has piled up, and intervention is most effective in such cases," Ikeda said.

"This will likely be one-off intervention, but I think the government wants to stop the yen's strength, which is out of sync with gradually improving global economic fundamentals.

"The dollar/yen will unlikely fall back to the record low hit earlier today for some time."

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Azumi will head to the Group of 20 summit in Cannes, France later this week and Tokyo has been keen to win its international partners' understanding for its problems with the yen.

Azumi said that while Monday's intervention was a solo act he was in a continuous contact with his international partners.

"I have been frequently in contact (with other countries) ... I have always conveyed Japan's stance and interests at senior official levels," he said.

Since September 2010, Japan has now intervened three times on its own and once jointly with other G7 rich nations to weaken the yen. But the effects of past intervention have proved fleeting in the face of steady demand from nervous investors seeking highly liquid and relatively safe assets such as Japanese government bonds.

This has been a source of deepening frustration for Japanese officials, who argue that a yen rally is one problem too many for a nation grappling with a nuclear crisis, a $250 billion post-quake rebuilding effort and ballooning debt.

(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Hideyuki Sano; Writing by Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Neil Fullick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111031/bs_nm/us_japan_economy_yen

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Who Won 'Project Runway'?

For someone who learned to sew just a few months before appearing on Project Runway, Anya Ayoung-Chee (pictured far left) certainly left her mark on the competition. It was revealed in Thursday's Project Runway finale that the former Miss Trinidad and Tobago (and Miss Universe 2008 contestant) had put her newfound talent to good use, sewing up a season 9 victory.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/project-runway-winner-anya-ayoung-chee/1-a-397022?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aproject-runway-winner-anya-ayoung-chee-397022

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Snow, wind, rain smack Northeast; cleanup begins

Bayron Zamora, right, 15, and Jarell Finley, 17, look at a down tree as heavy snow created issues with down lines and trees during a rare October snowstorm that hit the Northern New Jersey region, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, in Lodi, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Bayron Zamora, right, 15, and Jarell Finley, 17, look at a down tree as heavy snow created issues with down lines and trees during a rare October snowstorm that hit the Northern New Jersey region, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, in Lodi, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A vehicle makes its way at the snow-covered intersection of Autumn and Grove Streets in Lodi, N.J., following a rare October snowstorm that hit the region, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

A Times Square Alliance worker clears snow in New York's Times Square Saturday Oct. 29, 2011. An unusual early-autumn nor'easter brought a mix of snow, rain and slush to parts of New York on Saturday, and authorities said Central Park was seeing its snowiest October on record. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

Rutgers fans celebrate a touchdown as the snow falls in the second half of an NCAA college football game against West Virginia in Piscataway, N.J., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011. West Virginia won 41- 31. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

A Times Square Alliance worker clears snow in New York's Times Square Saturday Oct. 29, 2011. An unusual early-autumn nor'easter brought a mix of snow, rain and slush to parts of New York on Saturday, and authorities said Central Park was seeing its snowiest October on record. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? An unseasonably early snowstorm that blanketed parts of states from Maryland to Maine, knocking out power to millions and snarling air and highway travel, was forecast to slowly move north out of New England and officials warned it could be days before many see electricity restored.

The heavy, wet October snow, falling atop leaf-laden trees and driven by frigid, gusting winds, brought down branches and power lines and put the Northeast on notice that winter is around the corner. More than 2.3 million customers from Maryland to New England lost power due to the storm by early Sunday.

Governors declared states of emergency in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York, and at least three deaths were blamed on the weather, including an 84-year-old Pennsylvania man killed when a tree fell on his home while he was napping in his recliner.

Some 700,000 lost power in Connecticut, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy cautioned that some homes and business without electricity may be in for a long haul.

"If you are without power, you should expect to be without power for a prolonged period of time," Malloy said Saturday night.

Snow was forecast to stop falling in New England late Sunday as the storm tracks toward Nova Scotia, but not before accumulating up to 2 feet in some areas of Massachusetts. Some inland towns in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York saw more than a foot of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

New York City's Central Park set a record for both the date and the month of October with 1.3 inches of snow.

Communities in western Massachusetts were among the hardest hit. Windsor, Mass., had received 26 inches by early Sunday, and nearby Plainfield saw 24? inches, and Savoy 24. West Milford, N.J., about 45 miles northwest of New York City, had received 19 inches of snow by early Sunday.

In addition to high number of customers without electricity in Connecticut, there were more than 600,000 in New Jersey ? including Gov. Chris Christie ? and a half-million in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania without power.

PSE&G, New Jersey's largest electric and gas utility, warned customers in a statement on its website to prepare for "potentially lengthy outages" and advised that full restoration of power might not happen until Wednesday.

Officials throughout the region had warned that the early storm would bring sticky snow on the heels of the week's warmer weather and could create dangerous conditions. In addition to declarations in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for 13 counties.

"It's a little startling. I mean, it's only October," said Craig Brodur, who was playing keno with a friend at Northampton Convenience in western Massachusetts.

By early Sunday, the storm had vacated Pennsylvania and New Jersey and was tracking northeast.

Transportation officials early Sunday advised against any unnecessary travel on I-87 between New York and Albany and along I-90 in the Albany area due to heavy snow.

The storm was expected to worsen as it swept north. Wind gusts of up to 55 mph were predicted especially along coastal areas.

The heaviest snow in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine was set to fall early Sunday. Parts of southern Vermont could receive more than a foot.

The first measurable snow in New England usually falls in early December, and normal highs for late October are in the mid-50s.

Along the coast and in cities such as Boston, relatively warm water temperatures helped keep snowfall totals much lower. Washington received a trace of snow, tying a record for the date set in 1925.

But not everyone was lamenting the unofficial arrival of winter.

Two Vermont ski resorts, Killington and Mount Snow, started the ski season early by opening one trail each over the weekend, thanks to the recent snow and cold. Maine's Sunday River ski resort also opened for the weekend.

Some said the severity of the storm caught them by surprise.

"This is absolutely a lot more snow than I expected to see today. I can't believe it's not even Halloween and it's snowing already," Carole Shepherd of Washington Township, N.J., said after shoveling her driveway.

The storm disrupted travel along the Eastern Seaboard. Philadelphia International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport all had hourslong delays Saturday. Amtrak suspended service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa., and commuter trains in Connecticut and New York were delayed or suspended because of downed trees and signal problems.

Residents were urged to avoid travel altogether. Speed limits were reduced on bridges between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A few roads closed because of accidents and downed trees and power lines, and more were expected, said Sean Brown, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The storm came on a busy weekend for many, with trick-or-treaters going door-to-door in search of Halloween booty, hunting season opening in some states and a full slate of college and pro football scheduled.

In eastern Pennsylvania, snow caused widespread problems, toppling trees and a few power lines, and led to minor traffic accidents, according to dispatchers. In Huffs Church, in Berks County, southwest of Allentown, 16 inches of snow fell.

Philadelphia saw mostly rain, but the snow that did fall coated downtown roofs in white. The last major widespread snowstorm to hit Pennsylvania this early was in 1972, said John LaCorte, a National Weather Service meteorologist in State College.

In southeastern Pennsylvania, an 84-year-old man was killed when a snow-laden tree fell on his home while he was napping in his recliner. In Connecticut, the governor said one person died in a Colchester traffic accident that he blamed on slippery conditions.

In Massachusetts, a 20-year-old man died in Springfield after being electrocuted by a power line downed by high winds and wet, heavy snow. Capt. William Collins says the man stopped when he saw police and firefighters examining downed wires and stepped in the wrong place.

Parts of New York saw a mix of snow, rain and slush that made for sheer misery at the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City, where drenched protesters hunkered down in tents and under tarps as the plaza filled with rainwater and melted snow.

Technically, tents are banned in the park, but protesters say authorities have been looking the other way, even despite a crackdown on generators that were keeping them warm.

Nick Lemmin, 25, of Brooklyn, was spending his first night at the encampment. He was one of a handful of protesters still at the park early Sunday.

"I had to come out and support," he said. "The underlying importance of this is such that you have to weather the cold."

Adash Daniel, 24, is a protester who had been at the park for three weeks. He had a sleeping bag and cot that he was going to set up, but changed his mind.

"I'm not much good to this movement if I'm shivering," he said as he left the park.

October snowfall is rare in New York, and Saturday marked just the fourth October day with measurable snowfall in Central Park since record-keeping began 135 years ago, the National Weather Service said.

___

Associated Press writers Ron Todt in Philadelphia; David B. Caruso and Colleen Long in New York; Jay Lindsay in Boston; Eric Tucker in Washington; Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, N.J.; and Clarke Canfield in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-30-October%20Snow/id-53aac34e286c437da0bf6c8bc27c6454

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Judgment due next week in Assange extradition case

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to members of the media during a news conference in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Assange said Monday that financial problems may lead to the closure of the notorious secret-spilling site at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to members of the media during a news conference in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Assange said Monday that financial problems may lead to the closure of the notorious secret-spilling site at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to members of the media during a news conference in London, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Assange said Monday that financial problems may lead to the closure of the notorious secret-spilling site at the end of this year. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

LONDON (AP) ? WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will learn next week of the verdict in his fight against his extradition to Sweden to answer allegations of sexual misconduct, the organization said Thursday.

WikiLeaks staffer Joseph Farrell said that Britain's High Court had informed Assange it will deliver judgment on his appeal on Nov. 2,

"The court told us. We have no further details," Farrell said in a text message.

In February, a judge ruled that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation against two women. Lawyers for Assange filed an appeal at the High Court, and insist the activist would not receive a fair trial.

Britain's Royal Courts of Justice could not immediately be reached to confirm details of next week's hearing.

Allegations against Assange date back to a visit to Sweden in August 2010, shortly after the activist's organization had released secret U.S. files on the war in Afghanistan. Assange became involved with two women ? one of whom later accused him of coercion and molestation, another of whom alleged that he had had sex with her as she slept.

Swedish prosecutors have not charged Assange with any crime, but have demanded that he returns to Scandinavia to face questions about the case.

Assange, who was briefly detained in prison custody, has been living under curfew at a supporter's rural mansion in eastern England while he has contested the demand for his extradition.

The activist has been made the subject of an overnight curfew, must wear an electronic tag and report to police daily.

Assange has claimed the Swedish case is being politically manipulated following his organization's disclosure of classified U.S. documents.

At an appeal hearing in July, Assange's lawyer Ben Emmerson said that the women involved in the case may have found sex with his client "disrespectful, discourteous or disturbing," but added that it had been entirely consensual.

Emmerson told that hearing that Assange's actions wouldn't be illegal in the context of English law. "The conduct that is complained of would not constitute a crime in this jurisdiction," he said.

Assange had previously vowed to take his case to Britain's Supreme Court or the European Court of Human Rights if his appeal is rejected by the High Court.

___

Associated Press Writer Raphael G. Satter contributed to this report

___

Online:

WikiLeaks: http://wikileaks.ch/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-10-27-WikiLeaks/id-6f1528063d4942c5aab0e324b33c3f13

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Officer: He believed woman's home invasion story (AP)

FORT DODGE, Iowa ? A local detective who interviewed an Iowa woman the night she killed her 20-year-old neighbor believed she was telling the truth about defending herself during a home invasion and assault, but a high-level state investigator was immediately skeptical, according to testimony Thursday in her murder trial.

Former Sac County sheriff's Lt. Dennis Cessford testified that he believed Tracey Richter's demeanor in the hospital and bruises on her neck, hands and legs were consistent with her claims of self-defense. Cessford said Richter appeared concerned and perhaps scared when he interviewed her at a local hospital.

"We took Tracey's information at face value," he said.

But retired Division of Criminal Investigation crime scene team supervisor Robert Harvey said he saw no signs of a forced entry or a struggle when he arrived at the home hours after the slaying.

Richter, 45, of Omaha, Neb., is charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 13, 2001, death of Dustin Wehde at her former home in Early, a town in northwest Iowa. Prosecutors say she shot Wehde, planted a notebook in his car that implicated her ex-husband in a murder-for-hire scheme and then falsely claimed she was a victim of a home invasion.

Richter has claimed all along that she shot Wehde to protect herself and her three children after Wehde and another man broke into her home and strangled her with pantyhose. She claims that she was able to break free, unlock her gun safe, grab a gun and shoot Wehde over her shoulder. She says she then shot him again with a second gun after he was trying to get up.

Cessford said that one thing that "bothered me" about her story was the way she used two guns, ending up with one in each hand. He said that was something he had not seen in his experience or would have thought to do himself.

Prosecutors had Harvey walk jurors through gruesome photographs he took of Wehde, slumped over on the bedroom's hardwood floor with a pool of blood around his head. Richter covered her eyes for the most graphic shot and but occasionally looked at the television screen as other photos showing blood running across the floor, the gun safe and bullet fragments were broadcast.

Harvey, who retired in 2006 after three decades with DCI, testified he arrived at the home hours after the shooting and was immediately skeptical that a break-in and assault had occurred.

He said investigators examined all the doors and saw no signs of a forced entry. He said there also were no items in the house that were knocked over or out of place that would have suggested a struggle. He said he did find a pair of pantyhose on the kitchen floor, a baseball bat and a revolver on the kitchen counter.

"In a struggle you would have a tendency to run into things and knock things over ... none of that was there," said Harvey, who retired in 2006.

Cessford said law enforcement officials found a pink spiral notebook in the front of Wehde's car the day after the shooting in which he had written that Richter's ex-husband had hired him to kill her and her 11-year-old son and make it look like a murder-suicide. He said police decided immediately to keep the notebook a secret because "that would be a key piece of evidence that only the person responsible for that evidence would know about it and talk about it."

Cessford said investigators looked at whether Richter's husband at the time, Michael Roberts, was involved in the events leading up to the shooting but ruled him out after determining he had been out of state on business. But under cross-examination from Richter's defense lawyer Scott Bandstra, the officer acknowledged that prosecutors no longer have the cell phone records he reviewed that helped him reach that conclusion.

Bandstra has suggested that another man was the alleged second intruder, but part of the defense strategy also appears to be raising doubts about Roberts' potential involvement. The defense noted Wednesday that Roberts had planned a business trip during the shooting and gave an employee who went with him a $5,000 bonus and a $20,000 raise shortly afterward. The employee testified the pay increase was for his performance and had nothing to do with the shooting.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_re_us/us_hero_mom_or_killer

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Paramount lays off 120 in global theatrical reorganization (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Paramount Pictures is laying off about 120 people in a reorganization of its global theatrical division, the company announced Thursday.

Andrew Cripps will leave his post as president of international theatrical distribution for Paramount and will remain in London as the post moves to Los Angeles.

Taking his place will be former Disney international executive Anthony Marcoly.

Paramount said in September that it would centralize global theatrical marketing in Los Angeles. Today's announcement is the implementation of the restructuring plan.

The company also announced that it is closing its Latin America regional oversight office in Rio de Janeiro. Paramount employees in Los Angeles will take over responsibilities that had been carried out from that office.

Of the 120 people being laid off, 80 are in the United States and 40 work outside the country. Paramount employs about 2,400 people.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/media_nm/us_paramount

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Nintendo to post its first ever annual net loss (Reuters)

OSAKA, Japan (Reuters) ? Nintendo Co Ltd said on Thursday it would make its first ever annual net loss this financial year, cutting earnings guidance for a second time as the soaring yen and weak software sales dealt fresh blows to the former games industry champion.

The creator of the Super Mario franchise dominated the industry for years with its DS handheld games players and Wii home consoles, but is now struggling to keep up with more versatile gadgets like Apple's smartphones and tablets.

This year's failed launch of its 3DS handheld games machine forced Nintendo to slash prices, crushing its profit outlook for the year, while a dearth of attractive software and the yen's strength against the euro are causing further pain.

Nintendo expects an annual net loss of 20 billion yen, its first such loss in history and also slashed its full-year operating profit forecast to just 1 billion yen from 35 billion yen.

In the latest quarter, it tumbled to a 19.6 billion yen ($258 million) operating loss, a slightly bigger loss than the market had expected and much worse than the company had forecast. That compares with a 30.9 billion yen profit in the same period last year.

Nintendo chopped its forecast for sales of 3DS software by 30 percent to 50 million units for the year to March, but left its 3DS hardware forecast at 16 million units for the year, a target fund managers said might be hard to achieve.

"I think its highly optimistic," said Yuuki Sakurai, president of Fukoku Capital Management in Tokyo. "I think they need to change their strategy drastically."

"Now that people can do so much on their smartphones, will they want to buy a games machine?" he said, adding that global economic uncertainty would also likely weigh on the stock.

Nintendo has been battling competition from traditional rivals Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp while Apple and Google are also making rapid inroads into the casual gaming market.

The Kyoto-based company, which generates 80 percent of its sales overseas, also faces a massive hit in earnings from the soaring yen, which has crushed the value of profits repatriated from abroad, especially from the euro zone.

The company took a 52.4 billion yen charge after reassessing its foreign currency-denominated assets as of the end of September, it said.

President Satoru Iwata said the WiiU, the successor to the highly popular Wii home console would be shown in its final form at the E3 games show in the United States next year and launched after that. An initial version of the WiiU shown at this year's E3 garnered some positive reviews from gamers but triggered a slide in Nintendo's share price.

The stock has tumbled by about 50 percent since April 1, compared with an 8.5 percent fall in the Nikkei average. Nintendo ended Thursday trading down 0.6 percent at 11,110 yen ahead of the announcement.

($1 = 75.990 Japanese Yen)

(Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111027/bs_nm/us_nintendo_earnings

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Prosecutors seek 20 years against Mob boss (AP)

MILAN ? Italian prosecutors have demanded up to 20 years in prison for a mob boss and 15 other defendants in a huge Mafia trial in southern Italy.

The news agency ANSA says prosecutors have demanded guilty verdicts against 118 defendants in the trial, and are seeking the highest sentence against 81-year-old Domenico Oppedisano, the top boss of the 'ndrangheta crime syndicate, and 15 others.

The defendants are among 300 arrested in a crackdown on the powerful and expanding Calabrian mob in July 2010. Authorities also seized more than euro60 million ($83 million) in cash and property during raids in northern and southern Italy.

The defendants opted for a fast-track trial, under which sentences can be reduced by up to a third. Prosecutors say charges should be thrown out against two defendants.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_mob_trial

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Netbooks slip under tablet shipments, achieve has-bEeen status

Still unconvinced we're headed towards a post-PC future? We can at least conclusively say we've entered a post-netbook present, as Q2 2011 marks the first time their numbers have been eclipsed by tablets, according to ABI Research. 13.6 million slates were shipped in the quarter, besting the 7.3 million the diminutive laptops were able to clock in. When compared to the prior quarter, that works out to 112 percent or 7.2 million increase (!) for the former, and a 1.1 million decline for the latter. Cost apparently isn't a driving factor, as the firm notes that tablets pack an average price of $600 -- nearly double that of their trackpad-toting brethren. Oh, and in case you were wondering, 68 percent of tablets shipped were of Cupertino's flavor. More cold hard facts await you in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Netbooks slip under tablet shipments, achieve has-bEeen status

Netbooks slip under tablet shipments, achieve has-bEeen status originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Transitional leader declares Libyan liberation

A man reacts while viewing the bodies of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, background, his ex-defense minister Abu Bakr Younis and his son, Muatassim Gadhafi, foreground, in a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata, Libya, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. Libya's new leaders will declare liberation on Sunday, officials said, a move that will start the clock for elections after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/David Sperry)

A man reacts while viewing the bodies of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, background, his ex-defense minister Abu Bakr Younis and his son, Muatassim Gadhafi, foreground, in a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata, Libya, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. Libya's new leaders will declare liberation on Sunday, officials said, a move that will start the clock for elections after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/David Sperry)

Libyan revolutionary fighters returning from Sirte are welcomed at Al Guwarsha gate in Benghazi, Libya, Saturday Oct. 22, 2011. Libya's new leaders will declare liberation on Sunday, officials said, a move that will start the clock for elections after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Libyan women and children welcome revolutionary fighters returning from Sirte at Al Guwarsha gate in Benghazi, Libya, Saturday Oct. 22, 2011. Libya's new leaders will declare liberation on Sunday, officials said, a move that will start the clock for elections after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A man photographs the body of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi on a mattress in a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata, Libya, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. A military spokesman says Libya's transitional government will declare liberation on Sunday after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime leader Gadhafi. (AP Photo/David Sperry)

Libyan women walk past a graffiti reading: "The greatest Crazy of the World" in Tripoli, Libya, Friday Oct. 21, 2011. The death Thursday of Gadhafi, two months after he was driven from power and into hiding, decisively buries the nearly 42-year regime that had turned the oil-rich country into an international pariah and his own personal fiefdom. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) ? Libya's transitional leader declared his country's liberation Sunday after an 8-month civil war and set out plans for the future with an Islamist tone. The announcement was clouded, however, by international pressure to explain how ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi had been captured alive days earlier, then ended up dead from a gunshot to his head shortly afterward.

Gadhafi's death in circumstances that are still unclear, and the gruesome spectacle of his body laid out as a trophy in a commercial freezer and on public view, are testing the new Libyan leaders' commitment to the rule of law. Even at the ceremony to declare liberation, two speakers in positions of authority essentially said Gadhafi got what he deserved.

But transitional government leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, who made the keynote speech, did not mention the events surrounding Gadhafi's end and called on his people to eschew hatred.

"You should only embrace honesty, patience, and mercy," Abdul-Jalil told the crowd at the declaration ceremony in the eastern city of Benghazi, the birthplace of the uprising against Gadhafi. He urged Libyans to reconcile their differences.

And he laid out a vision for the post-Gadhafi future with an Islamist tint, saying Islamic Sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation and existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified. In a gesture that showed his own piety, he urged Libyans not to express their joy by firing guns in the air, but rather to chant "Allahu Akbar," or God is Great. He then stepped aside from the podium and knelt to offer a brief prayer of thanks.

Using Sharia as the main source of legislation is stipulated in the constitution of neighboring Egypt. Still, Egyptian laws remain largely secular as Sharia does not cover all aspects of modern day life.

The uprising against Gadhafi erupted in February as part of anti-government revolts spreading across the Middle East. Neighboring Tunisia, which put the so-called Arab Spring in motion with mass protests nearly a year ago, has taken the biggest step on the path to democracy, voting for a new assembly Sunday in its first truly free elections. Egypt, which has struggled with continued unrest, is next with parliamentary elections slated for November.

Libya's struggle has been the bloodiest so far in the region. Mass protests quickly turned into a civil war that killed thousands and paralyzed the country for the past eight months. Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte was the last loyalist stronghold to fall last week, but Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, apparently escaped with some of his supporters.

Abdul-Jalil paid tribute to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation alliance led by Saudi Arabia, the Arab League and the European Union. NATO, which aided the anti-Gadhafi fighters with airstrikes, performed its task with "efficiency and professionalism," he added.

President Barack Obama congratulated Libyans on the declaration.

"After four decades of brutal dictatorship and eight months of deadly conflict, the Libyan people can now celebrate their freedom and the beginning of a new era of promise," he said.

But just hours before that statement, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Britain's new defense secretary, Philip Hammond, said a full investigation into Gadhafi's death is necessary.

Hammond said the Libyan revolutionaries' image had been "a little bit stained" by Gadhafi's death, Hammond adding that the new government "will want to get to the bottom of it in a way that rebuilds and cleanses that reputation."

"It's certainly not the way we do things," Hammond told BBC television. "We would have liked to see Col. Gadhafi going on trial to answer for his misdeeds."

Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press" that she backs a proposal that the United Nations investigate Gadhafi's death and that Libya's National Transitional Council look into the circumstances, too.

An autopsy confirmed that Gadhafi died from a gunshot to the head, Libya's chief pathologist, Dr. Othman al-Zintani, said. However, the pathologist said he would not disclose further details or elaborate on Gadhafi's final moments, saying he would first deliver a full report to the attorney general.

Libya's acting prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, said he would not oppose an investigation, but cited an official reporting saying a wounded Gadhafi was killed in crossfire following his capture. Addressing the celebrations around Gadhafi's body, Jibril told the BBC in an interview on Sunday: "You have to appreciate the agony that people went through for 42 years."

The 69-year-old Gadhafi was captured wounded, but alive Thursday in his hometown of Sirte, the last city to fall to revolutionary forces. Bloody images of Gadhafi being taunted and beaten by his captors have raised questions about whether he was deliberately executed.

Gadhafi's body has been on public display in a commercial freezer in a shopping center in the port city of Misrata, which suffered from a bloody siege by regime forces that instilled a virulent hatred for the dictator in Misrata's residents.

People have lined up for days to view the body, which was laid out on a mattress on the freezer floor. The bodies of Gadhafi's son Muatassim and his ex-defense minister Abu Bakr Younis also were put on display, and people wearing surgical masks have filed past, snapping photos of the bodies.

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch, which viewed the bodies, said video footage, photos and other information it obtained "indicate that they might have been executed after being detained."

"Finding out how they died matters," said Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch. "It will set the tone for whether the new Libya will be ruled by law or by summary violence."

The Syrian-based Al-Rai TV station, which has served as a mouthpiece for the Gadhafi clan, said the dictator's wife, Safiya, also demanded an investigation.

The vast majority of Libyans seemed unconcerned about the circumstances of the hated leader's death, but rather was relieved the country's ruler of 42 years was gone, clearing the way for a new beginning.

"If he (Gadhafi) was taken to court, this would create more chaos, and would encourage his supporters," said Salah Zlitni, 31, who owns a pizza parlor in downtown Tripoli. "Now it's over."

The long-awaited declaration of liberation starts the clock on Libya's transition to democracy. The transitional leadership has said it would declare a new interim government within a month of liberation and elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months, to be followed by votes for a parliament and president within a year.

At the ceremony in Benghazi, Abdul-Jalil outlined several changes to align with Islamic law.

"This revolution was looked after by God to achieve victory," he said.

Abdul-Jalil said new banks would be set up to follow the Islamic banking system, which bans charging interest as a practice deemed usury. For the time being, he said interest would be canceled from any personal loans already taken out at less than 10,000 Libyan dinars (about $7,500).

He also announced the annulment of an existing family law that limits the number of wives Libyans can take, contradicting the provision in the Muslim holy book, the Quran, that allows men up to four wives.

And he urged Libyans to hand back money or property taken during the civil war.

Abdul-Jalil thanked those who fought and fell in the fight against Gadhafi's forces.

"They are somewhere better than here, with God," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Jamal Halaby in Southern Shuneh, Jordan and Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-10-23-ML-Libya/id-daf7a5c0e76b444d901a670e26268777

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Herman Cain: How the recent Web buzz fits this year's GOP pattern. (The Christian Science Monitor)

Los Angeles ? Question: What do you get when you mix 81 percent disapproval (in a recent Gallup poll) of the direction the country is headed with the current crop of GOP hopefuls?

Answer: Candidates that come out of nowhere to lead the pack, most of whom fizzle in record time.

That?s the consensus of analysts looking at research released Monday by Chitika Insights, the research arm of the Westborough, Mass.-based online ad network, Chitika.

Election 101: 10 things you should know about Herman Cain

By monitoring the online search traffic from search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others, Chitika?s researchers have chronicled the dramatic web-based surge of interest in Herman Cain alongside the equally dramatic falloff of interest in Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

?Six weeks ago, the former Godfather Pizza CEO was a relative unknown and garnered only about 2 percent of the search traffic,? Chitika said in its release. ?However, since Cain surprised the political world with his win of the Florida straw poll, his momentum has been unabated, and is now tied with Mitt Romney for the lead on realclearpolitics.com.?

The study was done from Oct. 14 through Oct. 20. According to study author Joseph Regan, the two key findings are:

? Mr. Cain garnered 53 percent of Web searches covering the Republican primary candidates. This is a sharp increase from the 2 percent he received just six weeks ago.

??? Cain now elicits a higher volume of searches than does Sarah Palin, a feat none of the other candidates managed in previous samples.

If this sounds like an expected reflection of the poll numbers that Cain?s turnaround has engendered, that?s true, analysts say. But coupled with the quick rise and falloff of other front-runners ? including Donald Trump, Michele Bachman, and Rick Perry ? a compelling pattern is emerging that tells us some interesting context for election 2012.

?This research is dramatic proof backing up the observation that people are dissatisfied with government and are looking for someone to lead us to a better day,? says Villanova political science professor Lara Brown, author of ?Jockeying for the American Presidency.? She notes that even during Watergate, Gallup polls showed only 66 percent of Americans dissatisfied with the direction of the country compared with the 81 percent in the most recent poll.

By going to the Internet search engines and feeding in such phrases as ?Herman Cain,? ?Herman Cain and 9-9-9 tax plan,? ?Herman Cain and electric fence comment,? voters are trying to find out who this man is, what he has said, and what he stands for. Once they do find out ? as happened with Mr. Trump, Ms. Bachman, and Mr. Perry ? the scrutiny leads to dissatisfaction, Professor Brown notes.

?One of the great truisms of politics is that the more that is known about candidates, the less they are liked,? says Brown. ?I don?t think this should be a surprise that [Cain] has seemingly come out of nowhere, nor should people be surprised if his numbers fall off just as fast, like Donald Trump, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann.?

One of the compelling observations about the rise and fall of so many candidates, say Brown and others, is that the 24/7 media environment and new media ? blogs, social networking, Twitter, etc. ? are creating a faster ?morning glory? cycle than ever.

Brown uses the term ?morning glory? because back in the early 1900s, the US senator from New York, George Washington Plunkitt, used to compare reformers to the flowers that shoot up like rockets and fade at nightfall.

Brown?s Villanova colleague, political scientist Matthew Kerbel, says the Chitika research says more about Mitt Romney than Herman Cain.

?Having looked elsewhere, the Republican establishment is coming to terms with the inevitability of a Romney candidacy, but the voters ? at least so far ? haven't gotten the memo,? says Kerbel. ?Flirtations with Trump, Bachmann, Perry, and now Cain suggest base voters are still looking to fall in love, so Romney's polling remains flat. It's likely to stay that way unless and until Romney becomes the only viable candidate standing.?

Herman Cain speaks out: His five most memorable quotes

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111024/ts_csm/417563

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Research finds gallium nitride is non-toxic, biocompatible - holds promise for implants

Research finds gallium nitride is non-toxic, biocompatible - holds promise for implants

Monday, October 24, 2011

Researchers from North Carolina State University and Purdue University have shown that the semiconductor material gallium nitride (GaN) is non-toxic and is compatible with human cells ? opening the door to the material's use in a variety of biomedical implant technologies.

GaN is currently used in a host of technologies, from LED lighting to optic sensors, but it is not in widespread use in biomedical implants. However, the new findings from NC State and Purdue mean that GaN holds promise for an array of implantable technologies ? from electrodes used in neurostimulation therapies for Alzheimer's to transistors used to monitor blood chemistry.

"The first finding is that GaN, unlike other semiconductor materials that have been considered for biomedical implants, is not toxic. That minimizes risk to both the environment and to patients," says Dr. Albena Ivanisevic, who co-authored a paper describing the research. Ivanisevic is an associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and associate professor of the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Researchers used a mass spectrometry technique to see how much gallium is released from GaN when the material is exposed to various environments that mimic conditions in the human body. This is important because gallium oxides are toxic. But the researchers found that GaN is very stable in these environments ? releasing such a tiny amount of gallium that it is non-toxic.

The researchers also wanted to determine GaN's potential biocompatibility. To do this they bonded peptides ? the building blocks that make up proteins ? to the GaN material. Researchers then placed peptide-coated GaN and uncoated GaN into cell cultures to see how the material and the cells interacted.

Researchers found that the peptide-coated GaN bonded more effectively with the cells. Specifically, more cells bonded to the material and those cells spread over a larger area.

"This matters because we want materials that give us some control over cell behavior," Ivanisevic says. "For example, being able to make cells adhere to a material or to avoid it.

"One problem facing many biomedical implants, such as sensors, is that they can become coated with biological material in the body. We've shown that we can coat GaN with peptides that attract and bond with cells. That suggests that we may also be able to coat GaN with peptides that would help prevent cell growth ? and keep the implant 'clean.' Our next step will be to explore the use of such 'anti-fouling' peptides with GaN."

###

"Gallium Nitride is Biocompatible and Non-Toxic Before and After Functionalization with Peptides," is forthcoming from Acta Biomaterialia and was co-authored by Ph.D. students Scott A. Jewett and Matthew S. Makowski; undergraduate Benjamin Andrews; and Michael J. Manfra

North Carolina State University: http://www.ncsu.edu

Thanks to North Carolina State University 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.

This press release has been viewed 44 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114556/Research_finds_gallium_nitride_is_non_toxic__biocompatible___holds_promise_for_implants

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French first lady takes new baby girl home (AP)

PARIS ? Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is heading home with her newborn girl Giulia, the first baby born to a sitting French president.

Bruni-Sarkozy left a Paris clinic Sunday with her daughter and bodyguards, after giving birth Wednesday.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said he and his wife felt a "very profound happiness" over the birth of their first child together. He has three sons from his two previous marriages. She has one son from a previous relationship.

Sarkozy is expected to seek a second term in elections in six months.

When the first lady gave birth, Sarkozy was in Frankfurt for an emergency meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, trying to solve the deepening European debt crisis.

Sarkozy is in Brussels all day Sunday for a summit of European Union leaders.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111023/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_president_s_baby

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Sarkozy yields on ECB crisis role, pressure on Italy (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? European Union leaders made some progress toward a strategy to fight the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis on Sunday, nearing agreement on bank recapitalization and on how to leverage their rescue fund to try to stop bond market contagion.

But final decisions were deferred until a second summit on Wednesday and sharp differences remain over the size of losses private holders of Greek government bonds will have to accept.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy backed down in the face of implacable German opposition to his desire to use unlimited European Central Bank funds to fight the crisis. Instead, the euro zone may turn to emerging economies such as China and Brazil for help in underpinning its sickly bond market.

"Further work is still needed and that is why we will take the decisions in the follow-up euro zone summit," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said after chairing 12 hours of talks.

He indicated that Italy, the euro zone state now in the markets' firing line, had been told to come up with a more convincing plan this week to implement structural economic reforms to raise its growth potential.

"Between now and Wednesday, some members of the European Council will have to convince colleagues that their country is implementing the promised measures fully," Van Rompuy said.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he expected to call a cabinet meeting on Monday to discuss measures to boost growth, as Italy came under mounting pressure from European partners to step up reforms to restore market confidence.

Sarkozy acknowledged that France's proposal to multiply the firepower of the euro zone's rescue fund by turning it into a bank and letting it borrow from the ECB would not fly for now because neither Germany nor the central bank accepted it.

"No solution is viable if it doesn't have the support of all the European institutions," the French leader told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel said only two options remained on the table for leveraging the 440 billion euro ($600 billion) European Financial Stability Facility, and neither involved drawing on the central bank. Van Rompuy said, however, that some form of ECB involvement could not be entirely discounted.

Officials said the emerging solution would combine using the EFSF to provide partial guarantees to buyers of new Italian and Spanish bonds, while also creating a special purpose vehicle to attract funds from major emerging countries that could guarantee bonds in the secondary market.

It remains to be seen whether that will convince investors that euro zone government bonds are safe after expected heavy write-downs on Greek debt.

"This is not going to be the 'shock and awe' solution to really impress the markets given there are still a lot of details to be worked out and there is still a great deal of uncertainty about how this is to be implemented," WestLB rate strategist Michael Leister told Reuters.

Leaders endorsed a broad framework drafted by their finance ministers for recapitalising European banks, which regulators say need between 100 and 110 billion euros to cope with likely losses on Greek and other euro zone sovereign bonds.

WRANGLING

Much time was spent on procedural wrangling with non-euro members Britain and Poland demanding that all 27 EU states, including the 10 that are not in the single currency, be fully involved in the crisis response. That forced the calling of another full EU summit for one hour on Wednesday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said there was a danger that euro zone countries would otherwise start taking decisions on their own that affect the EU's single market.

With alarm growing in Washington, Beijing and other capitals about potential damage to the global economy, Europe is under pressure to put in place a comprehensive strategy in time for a November 3-4 G20 summit in France to halt the crisis.

They aim to agree on reducing Greece's debt burden, strengthening European banks, improving euro area economic governance and maximising the firepower of the EFSF.

Merkel told reporters that the decisions to be taken on Wednesday would not be the last step to overcome the crisis.

Before then, she must obtain parliamentary approval from her fractious center-right coalition for the latest series of increasingly unpopular bailout measures.

Merkel and Sarkozy began the day with a 30-minute private meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to ram home what a German official called "the urgent necessity of credible and concrete reform steps in euro area states."

LIFELINE

Finance ministers made progress at preparatory sessions on Friday and Saturday, agreeing to release an 8 billion euro ($11 billion) lifeline loan for Greece and to seek a far bigger write-down on Greek debt by private bondholders.

A document prepared by the ministers and seen by Reuters outlined possible guarantee schemes to help banks secure access to wholesale funding at a time when many are shut out of inter-bank lending.

The key outstanding issues were how to make Greece's debt burden manageable and how to scale up the rescue fund to shield Italy and Spain, the euro area's third and fourth largest economies, from bond market turmoil that has forced Greece, Ireland and Portugal into EU-IMF bailouts.

A debt sustainability study by international lenders showed that only losses of 50-60 percent for private bondholders would make Greek debt, forecast to reach 160 percent of GDP this year, sustainable in the long term.

"This debt is onerous and must lighten for us to breathe again," Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told reporters.

A senior German banker close to the talks said the banks had offered to take a 40 percent "voluntary" writedown but governments were demanding they write off 60 percent.

This is much more than a 21 percent net present value loss agreed with investors on July 21 and some officials question whether it can be achieved voluntarily, or only through a forced default that would trigger wider market turmoil.

"It's a poker game until Wednesday," one negotiator said.

A Reuters poll of economists -- many of them from European banks -- showed last week they expected private investors would have to shoulder losses of around 50 percent.

Analysts say the proposed bond insurance scheme could have perverse effects and remove incentives for states like Italy to take action to reduce debt.

The European Banking Authority told European Union finance ministers on Saturday that if all such bank assets were valued at market prices, EU banks would need 100-110 billion euros of new capital to have a 9 percent core tier 1 capital ratio.

Ministers agreed to give banks until June 2012 to achieve this capital ratio, first using their own funds or from private investors, and if that fails, by using public money from governments or as a last resort the EFSF.

However, EU sources said that figure appeared to include some 46 billion euros already earmarked for bank support in the EU/IMF bailout programmes for Ireland, Greece and Portugal.

Markets may be disappointed if the actual capital injection is only 60-70 billion euros, compared to recent estimates of a need for up to 200 billion euros.

(Additional reporting by Luke Baker, John O'Donnell, Jan Strupczewski, Harry Papachristou, Illona Wissenbach and Nigel Stephenson; Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Ruth Pitchford/Mike Peacock)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111023/bs_nm/us_eurozone

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Giant flakes make graphene oxide gel

Friday, October 21, 2011

Giant flakes of graphene oxide in water aggregate like a stack of pancakes, but infinitely thinner, and in the process gain characteristics that materials scientists may find delicious.

A new paper by scientists at Rice University and the University of Colorado details how slices of graphene, the single-atom form of carbon, in a solution arrange themselves to form a nematic liquid crystal in which particles are free-floating but aligned.

That much was already known. The new twist is that if the flakes ? in this case, graphene oxide ? are big enough and concentrated enough, they retain their alignment as they form a gel. That gel is a handy precursor for manufacturing metamaterials or fibers with unique mechanical and electronic properties.

The team reported its discovery online this week in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Soft Matter. Rice authors include Matteo Pasquali, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of chemistry; James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of computer science; postdoctoral research associate Dmitry Kosynkin; and graduate students Budhadipta Dan and Natnael Behabtu. Ivan Smalyukh, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, led research for his group, in which Dan served as a visiting scientist.

"Graphene materials and fluid phases are a great research area," Pasquali said. "From the fundamental point of view, fluid phases comprising flakes are relatively unexplored, and certainly so when the flakes have important electronic properties.

"From the application standpoint, graphene and graphene oxide can be important building blocks in such areas as flexible electronics and conductive and high-strength materials, and can serve as templates for ordering plasmonic structures," he said.

By "giant," the researchers referred to irregular flakes of graphene oxide up to 10,000 times as wide as they are high. (That's still impossibly small: on average, roughly 12 microns wide and less than a nanometer high.) Previous studies showed smaller bits of pristine graphene suspended in acid would form a liquid crystal and that graphene oxide would do likewise in other solutions, including water.

This time the team discovered that if the flakes are big enough and concentrated enough, the solution becomes semisolid. When they constrained the gel to a thin pipette and evaporated some of the water, the graphene oxide flakes got closer to each other and stacked up spontaneously, although imperfectly.

"The exciting part for me is the spontaneous ordering of graphene oxide into a liquid crystal, which nobody had observed before," said Behabtu, a member of Pasquali's lab. "It's still a liquid, but it's ordered. That's useful to make fibers, but it could also induce order on other particles like nanorods."

He said it would be a simple matter to heat the concentrated gel and extrude it into something like carbon fiber, with enhanced properties provided by "mix-ins."

Testing the possibilities, the researchers mixed gold microtriangles and glass microrods into the solution, and found both were effectively forced to line up with the pancaking flakes. Their inclusion also helped the team get visual confirmation of the flakes' orientation.

The process offers the possibility of the large-scale ordering and alignment of such plasmonic particles as gold, silver and palladium nanorods, important components in optoelectronic devices and metamaterials, they reported.

Behabtu added that heating the gel "crosslinks the flakes, and that's good for mechanical strength. You can even heat graphene oxide enough to reduce it, stripping out the oxygen and turning it back into graphite."

###

Rice University: http://media.rice.edu

Thanks to Rice University 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.

This press release has been viewed 55 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114525/Giant_flakes_make_graphene_oxide_gel

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British MP to detail new covert ops by News Corp (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? British lawmaker Tom Watson plans to detail new findings of covert surveillance techniques employed by News Corp. that go "beyond phone hacking."

Watson said he would reveal details at the company's annual shareholders meeting Friday that "will leave the company liable to civil liability but also huge reputational harm."

News Corp. officials declined to comment.

Watson, a Labour Party member of Parliament, has spearheaded a 2 1/2-year probe into phone hacking and alleged police bribery scandal at the company's British newspaper unit.

He made the comments to reporters Thursday in a conference call from Los Angeles, but gave few details.

"We know they've used tracker devices, private investigators to follow people, as well as phone hacking. Tomorrow, I want to talk about a particular aspect of other technological surveillance, but I'll leave that for the shareholders," he said.

Watson said he will be acting as the proxy for 1,669 nonvoting shares owned by labor group AFL-CIO. He will likely be allowed to speak along with other shareholders.

The meeting represents the first time that 80-year-old Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has faced shareholders with small stakes since the hacking scandal broke in early July.

The media conglomerate was rocked by evidence that its now-shuttered tabloid, News of the World, hired a private investigator who tapped into the cellphone voicemail of a 13-year-old who disappeared in 2002 and was later found murdered.

Murdoch and his son James, who is in line to succeed him, were grilled by Watson and other lawmakers in a parliamentary committee hearing in late July. The elder Murdoch said he was ashamed at what happened but declined to take personal blame, saying he was the best person "to clean this up."

Murdoch grips control of News Corp. through his family trust's 40 percent stake of voting shares. A key backer is Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who controls 7 percent. The voting stock represents less than a third of the company's total $44.4 billion market value.

That dual-class share system has come under renewed fire. Critics say the company's board is dysfunctional and management has poor oversight of the company.

Jay Eisenhofer, co-lead attorney in a shareholder lawsuit against News Corp. on charges of mishandling the affair, said on the same call that it would be a victory even if 20 percent of votes are cast against the reelection of Murdoch and his two sons, James and Lachlan. That's because that would be nearly half the 53 percent of votes unaffiliated with the family, he said.

Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended voting out all existing board members, including Murdoch and his sons, while Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones recommend voting against the sons, among others.

Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz said shareholder pressure could persuade the board to split the chairman and CEO roles, both of which Murdoch holds, or come up with a succession plan that does not involve his offspring.

"A significant enough `No' vote could pressure the board into making meaningful corporate governance changes, which we would view positively," he said in a research note Thursday.

Other analysts have downplayed the impact the newspaper scandal has had on the company, which derives most of its profits from pay TV channels such as Fox News, movies from 20th Century Fox and other TV entities.

News Corp.'s nonvoting shares were up 16 cents, or nearly 1 percent at $16.86 in afternoon trading Thursday. Shares have been buoyed recently by a $5 billion share buyback plan that is about a third complete. The stock is still down about 6 percent from when the scandal broke in early July.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111020/ap_on_bi_ge/us_news_corp_phone_hacking_watson

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QuickWiki for Firefox Shows Pop-Up Previews for Wikipedia Entries [Firefox Extensions]

Firefox: QuickWiki allows you to look up any word on Wikipedia when you're browsing without having to open up a new tab by showing you a small pop-up when you Ctrl+click a word.

QuickWiki can be set to work with pretty much any key and click combination you like, and you can choose to lookup words in either Wiktionary or Wikipedia. It comes in handy if you want to get a quick summation of a word or concept without creating a new tab and leaving an article you're reading. From our tests, it worked on every website and word that had an entry. Unlike the previously featured Chrome extension WikiPreview, QuickWiki separates itself by its ability to work anywhere on the web.

QuickWiki | Mozilla Add-Ons via Addictive Tips

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/i76DuJru9EY/quickwiki-for-firefox-shows-pop+up-previews-for-wikipedia

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Md. teen charged in 'Jihad Jane' terror plot (AP)

PHILADELPHIA ? A high school honors student from Maryland helped the American terror suspect dubbed "Jihad Jane" plot to kill a Swedish artist and used the Internet to raise money and recruits for overseas terrorists, federal prosecutors charged in an indictment Thursday.

Mohammad Hassan Khalid, a legal immigrant from Pakistan, had been the rare juvenile in federal custody until he turned 18 last month. The FBI arrested him July 6 at his family's home in Ellicott City, near Baltimore. He was charged Thursday with material support of terrorism.

According to the indictment, Khalid tried to recruit men to wage jihad, or a violent holy war, in Europe and South Asia, and women who had passports to travel through Europe. He had met Colleen LaRose, who had dubbed herself "Jihad Jane" in YouTube videos, in an online chat room when he was about 15, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors also charged Ali Charaf Damache, 46, an Algerian detained in Ireland, with conspiracy to aid terrorists and other charges. He had married another American suspect in the case, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, the day she arrived in Ireland in 2009.

"Today's indictment, which alleges a terrorist conspiracy involving individuals around the globe who connected via the Internet ? including a teenager and two women living in America ? underscores the evolving nature of violent extremism," Lisa Monaco, an assistant attorney for national security, said in a news release.

Khalid's lawyer, Jeffrey M. Lindy, said he was disappointed the government decided to charge Khalid as an adult. He vowed to fight the charges.

"We look forward to telling our side of the story to a jury ... that the government has been taking unconstitutional liberties with a kid who is now 18, but was 15, 16 years old (at the time of the alleged offenses)," Lindy told The Associated Press.

The FBI had searched the family's home and interviewed the teen several times at FBI headquarters without a lawyer or family member present, according to a person close to the family. However, the parents had authorized the interviews.

Damache, known as "Black Flag," tried to recruit men and women to train with the group known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, prosecutors have said in court papers. The group is an al-Qaida offshoot that has focused its efforts inside Algeria. Damache also hoped to recruit people to train with Pakistan's lead intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, authorities have said.

He is charged with conspiracy to aid terrorists and attempted identity theft to facilitate international terrorism. He has been in custody in Ireland since March 2010 and does not have a lawyer listed in the U.S. case.

Khalid, in his online solicitations, pledged to forward money to LaRose for her to pass on to the jihadists, authorities said.

"I know the sister and by Allah, all money will be transferred to her. The sister will then transfer the money to the brother via a method that I will not disclose," he wrote in July 2009, according to the LaRose indictment.

He allegedly hid a passport he received from LaRose, presumably the one she stole from her live-in boyfriend in Pennsylvania before moving to Ireland in August 2009. By then, the FBI had been watching her activities based on YouTube videos she had made in which she called herself "Jihad Jane."

LaRose, 48, of Pennsburg, later returned to the U.S. to surrender, and pleaded guilty this year to four federal charges, admitting she had agreed to try to kill the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had offended Muslims. She faces a life sentence.

Paulin-Ramirez, 32, of Leadville, Colo., pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists, the same charge now facing Khalid. The charge carries a maximum 15-year term. Her lawyer has called her a sincere religious convert who married "for the love of Islam, not for the love of her husband."

Khalid came to the U.S. four years ago and has lived with his strict, education-focused family in Baltimore's suburbs. An older brother attends a college honors program in engineering. He could be deported if he's convicted.

Teachers at Mt. Hebron High School remember the May graduate for his strong work ethic. A district spokeswoman called him "very strong academically and an extremely hardworking student."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111020/ap_on_re_us/us_american_terror_plot_juvenile

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7 Ways to Heal Your Pets Using Quantum Physics | Free Electricity

Zeropoint quantum physics utilizes a universal energy that sets up a protective shield around pets and protects them from environmental toxins including power lines, microwaves, television screens, cell phones, second-hand smoke, house-hold cleaners, chlorine, pollution in the air, water,mold and bacteria. This balances the pet?s body physically and emotionally.

The National Council of Radiology Protection determined that the maximum amount of radiation safe for the human body to is two miligauss per exposure. Computers emit five mg., airplanes ? 50mg., appliances about one hundred mg, and blenders 220 mg. It has not been determined what the maximum amount of radiation exposure is for pets. The following is a list of how to use zeropointglobal technology.

1. After surgery, laser the stitches using the red light for a few minutes several times a day.

Let me go forward with this content page. 2. Laser the pet?s food and water using the red and blue light. As the pet ingests food and water, the vibrational frequency will elevate causing balance. The blue light will neutralize fungus, mold, and bacteria. The plate can also be used to detoxify food and water. Place pet food and water on the plate for a few minutes.

3. Set the coaster or the plate in the area where the pet sleeps.

4. Use the pendent, coaster, and/or plate while grooming the dog.

5. After surgery, during grooming, or when pet is agitated place the pendent around the dog?s collar for emotional balance.

6. While traveling, place the coaster or plate in the pet carrier for emotional support.

7. Hold the coaster near the dog when people are visiting. These suggestions are designed to help your pet with physical and emotional balance in order to be a happier healthier companion.

These statementshaven?t been confirmed by the FDA.

QM3.2: Infinite Square Well ? What is zero-point energy?: The Infinite Square Well Potential Once we?ve determine the energy values, notice that n=0 gives E=0, an interesting result indeed. We shall soon see that?

Donna Forman is a hypnotist, Reiki Master, Long Term Care insurance agent, and independent wellness consultant for zeropointglobal. Her expertise has been mostly with the senior population using all these modalities. She?s excited about the technology of zeropointglobal, which she sees naturally helping many people and pets, of all ages, effortlessly with physical, emotional balance, and stress reduction. For further information, check her website at http://zeropointglobal.com

Source: http://buildingagreenhouseplan.com/7-ways-to-heal-your-pets-using-quantum-physics/

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