"Dangerous" Muppets Slam Fox News, Deny Liberal Agenda

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy hit back at Fox News at a UK press conference following the London Premiere of their new film, in response to Fox's earlier criticism of the film "pushing a dangerous liberal agenda" at kids.

Making the publicity rounds following the London premiere of their new hit movie, Kermit and Miss Piggy defended their fellow fuzzy foam friends from attacks by the right-leaning cable channel. Check out the clip below:

The Muppets Bash Fox News

Eric Bolling, host of Follow the Money, alleged last year that The Muppets pushes a "dangerous liberal agenda," as the oil tycoon villain is named Tex Richman. "We are teaching our kids class warfare. Where are we, Communist China?" Bolling asked.

Seriously. Asked by reporters about the accusations, Kermit responded:

"Oh, it's SO dangerous. You know it's a funny thing. They were concerned about us having some prejudice against oil companies. That is categorically not true."

"And besides if we have such a big a problem with the oil companies, why would we have spent the entire film driving around a gas-guzzling Rolls-Royce?"

The lovable amphibian does make a point there.

Miss Piggy chimed in: "It's almost as laughable as accusing Fox News of being, uh ... news." Oh, snap. A cable news network, OWNED by sock puppets.

Watch the original Fox segment after the jump:

Fox News Bashes The Muppets

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/the-muppets-slam-dangerous-fox-news/

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Symantec, Lookout Mobile Security debate latest Android ?malware? attack (Appolicious)

If you have an Android device, malware threats are nothing new, just something with which you?ve learned to deal. Mobile security companies usually alert the public when any major malware or Trojan threat is discovered in the Android Market, but rarely do they disagree over what?s actually considered malware. This question?s been raised in regards to the latest string of Android Market botnets uncovered by Symantec, in what could be the largest botnet setup in Android?s history with as many as 5 million victims.

Dubbed ?Android.Counterclank? (or ?Apperhand SDK?) by Symantec, the malware was packaged across 13 different Android apps from different publishers, with titles ranging from Sexy Girls Puzzle to Counter Strike Ground Force. ?They don't appear to be real publishers,? Kevin Haley, a director with Symantec's security response team, said in an interview today. ?These aren't rebundled apps, as we've seen so many times before.?

But Lookout Mobile Security doesn?t think that this differentiated behavior means it?s a malware attack. They posted a blog over the weekend explaining their reasons for disagreeing with Symantec?s assessment, saying Android.Counterclank isn?t malware at all. It?s certainly not something most Android users want on their devices, but Lookout finds no evidence of outright malicious behavior, saying their capabilities are more like aggressive ad networks that put search icons on your home screen and run ads through your notifications bar.

?Malware is defined as software that is designed to engage in malicious behavior on a device. Malware can also be used to steal personal information from a mobile device that could result in identity theft or financial fraud,? reads Lookout?s blog. ?Apperhand doesn?t appear to be malicious, and at this point in our investigation, this is an aggressive form of an ad network ? not malware.?

Money-hungry ads or malicious malware? It seems the industry experts can?t agree, and such disparity could significantly shake up the consumer market. The debate over malware?s core definition came up a few weeks back with the Carrier IQ debacle, leading to a massive consumer backlash as privacy advocates blasted the carrier-supported software. When it comes to Android.Counterclank we have yet another example of how the Android ecosystem is being exploited, and how little this market is controlled. The debate over Android.Counterclank could ultimately circle back to Google, which is increasingly being held accountable for the Android Market experience.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/security/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_androidapps_com_articles10904_symantec_lookout_mobile_security_debate_latest_android_malware_attack/44353985/SIG=13m9m6kf0/*http%3A//www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/10904-symantec-lookout-mobile-security-debate-latest-android-malware-attack

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North Carolina launches FCC-approved TV White Space network in Wilmington

Back in December, the FCC approved the first white space device and database for the lucky city of Wilmington, North Carolina. Last week, the program bore its first fruits, when database operator Spectrum Bridge finally launched its TV White Space (TVWS) network in Carolina, as part of Wilmington's ongoing "Smart City" initiative. With the TVWS network up and running, Wilmingtonians will have internet access in public parks, while authorities will be able to use part of Spectrum Bridge's broadband for video surveillance. Public security, in fact, is among the primary functions of the new network, which will be expanded to help manage traffic congestion and to help the city function more efficiently. Beam past the break for more, in the full press release.

Continue reading North Carolina launches FCC-approved TV White Space network in Wilmington

North Carolina launches FCC-approved TV White Space network in Wilmington originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/30/north-carolina-launches-fcc-approved-tv-white-space-network-in-w/

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300 arrested in daylong Occupy Oakland protests

Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

Occupy Oakland protestors burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest on the steps of City Hall, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

A woman pleads with Occupy Oakland protestors to not burn an American flag found inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

Oakland Police block the entrance to City Hall after Occupy Oakland protestors gained access into the building during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. Oakland officials say police are in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse on Saturday. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

Oakland police block off a street in downtown Oakland during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, January 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters for failing to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

An Oakland City police officer stomps out a burning American flag after Occupy Oakland protestors set City Hall's flag on fire during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Beck Diefenbach)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? Dozens of police maintained a late-night guard around City Hall following daylong protests that resulted in 300 arrests. Occupy Oakland demonstrators broke into the historic building and burned a U.S. flag, as officers earlier fired tear gas to disperse people throwing rocks and tearing down fencing at a convention center.

Saturday's protests ? the most turbulent since Oakland police forcefully dismantled an Occupy encampment in November ? came just days after the group said it planned to use a vacant building as a social center and political hub and threatened to try to shut down the port, occupy the airport and take over City Hall.

An exasperated Mayor Jean Quan, who faced heavy criticism for the police action last fall, called on the Occupy movement to "stop using Oakland as its playground."

"People in the community and people in the Occupy movement have to stop making excuses for this behavior," Quan said.

Protesters clashed with police throughout the day, at times throwing rocks, bottles and other objects at officers. And police responded by deploying smoke, tear gas and bean bag rounds, City Administrator Deanna Santanta said.

Interim Police Chief Howard Jordan said about 300 arrests were made.

"These demonstrators stated their intention was to provoke officers and engage in illegal activity and that's exactly what has occurred today," Santana said.

The group assembled outside City Hall late Saturday morning and marched through the streets, disrupting traffic as they threatened to take over the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center.

The protesters walked to the vacant convention center, where some started tearing down perimeter fencing and "destroying construction equipment" shortly before 3 p.m., police said.

Police said they issued a dispersal order and used smoke and tear gas after some protesters pelted them with bottles, rocks, burning flares and other objects.

The number of demonstrators swelled as the day wore on, with afternoon estimates ranging from about 1,000 to 2,000 people.

A majority of the arrests came after police took scores of protesters into custody as they marched through the city's downtown, with some entering a YMCA building, said Sgt. Jeff Thomason, a police spokesman.

Quan said that at one point, many protesters forced their way into City Hall, where they burned flags, broke an electrical box and damaged several art structures, including a recycled art exhibit created by children.

She blamed the destruction on a small "very radical, violent" splinter group within Occupy Oakland.

"This is not a situation where we had a 1,000 peaceful people and a few violent people. If you look at what's happening today in terms of destructing property, throwing at and charging the police, it's almost like they are begging for attention and hoping that the police will make an error."

Dozens of officers surrounded City Hall, while others swept the inside of the building looking for protesters who had broken into the building, then ran out of the building with American flags before officers arrived.

The protest group issued an email criticizing police, saying "Occupy Oakland's building occupation, an act of constitutionally protected civil disobedience was disrupted by a brutal police response today."

Michael Davis, 32, who is originally from Ohio and was in the Occupy movement in Cincinnati, said Saturday was a very hectic day that originally started off calm but escalated when police began using "flash bangs, tear gas, smoke grenades and bean bags."

"What could've been handled differently is the way the Oakland police came at us," Davis said. "We were peaceful."

City leaders joined Quan in criticizing the protesters.

"City Hall is closed for the weekend. There is no excuse for behavior we've witnessed this evening," City Council President Larry Reid said during a news briefing Saturday.

Oakland Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, echoed Reid's sentiments and said that what was going on amounts to "domestic terrorism."

The national Occupy Wall Street movement, which denounces corporate excess and economic inequality, began in New York City in the fall but has been largely dormant lately.

Oakland, New York and Los Angeles were among the cities with the largest and most vocal Occupy protests early on. The demonstrations ebbed after those cities used force to move out hundreds of demonstrators who had set up tent cities.

In Oakland, the police department received heavy criticism for using force to break up earlier protests. Quan was among the critics, but on Saturday, she seemed to have changed her tune.

"Our officers have been very measured," Quan said. "Were there some mistakes made? There may be. I would say the Oakland police and our allies, so far a small percentage of mistakes. "But quite frankly, a majority of protesters who were charging the police were clearly not being peaceful.

Earlier this month, a court-appointed monitor submitted a report to a federal judge that included "serious concerns" about the department's handling of the Occupy protests.

Jordan said late Saturday that he was in "close contact" with the federal monitor during the protests.

Quan added, "If the demonstrators think that because we are working more closely with the monitor now that we won't do what we have to do to uphold the law and try keep people safe in this city, they're wrong."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-29-Occupy%20Oakland/id-88d2af986fec4fc0bdce725e7e8e2dfd

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15 Killer Quotes From 'Sh*t People Say' Videos (Mashable)

This meme is certainly making a strong case to be one of the biggest of 2012. Sure, the first episode of "Sh*t Girls Say" was uploaded at the end of last year, but who's counting really? The results that Google yields when you start typing "Sh*t People Say" are as far-ranging in quality as they are in topic.

SEE ALSO: 15 Best ?Sh*t People Say? Videos

[More from Mashable: Relax: Twitter?s New Censorship Policy Is Actually Good for Activists]

We're sure you've got your own favorite quotes from the wide array of videos out there. These 15 favorites (and an honorable mention for each) should get the conversation started.

[More from Mashable: Seinfeld?s Kramer Reacts to Hearing Skrillex [VIDEOS]]

1. Sh*t Girls Say - Episode 1

The original that started a whole sh*t revolution. Many great lines, tough to choose a favorite, but this one stood out.

Honorable Mention: "You're the best!"

Click here to view this gallery. This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20120127/tc_mashable/15_killer_quotes_from_sht_people_say_videos

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Romney would rank among richest presidents ever (AP)

Associated Press ? Just how rich is Mitt Romney? Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you're in Romney territory.

He would be among the richest presidents in American history if elected ? probably in the top four.

He couldn't top George Washington who, with nearly 60,000 acres and more than 300 slaves, is considered the big daddy of presidential wealth. After that, it gets complicated, depending how you rate Thomas Jefferson's plantation, Herbert Hoover's millions from mining or John F. Kennedy's share of the vast family fortune, as well as the finer points of factors like inflation adjustment.

But it's safe to say the Roosevelts had nothing on Romney, and the Bushes are nowhere close.

The former Massachusetts governor has disclosed only the broad outlines of his wealth, putting it somewhere from $190 million to $250 million. That easily could make him 50 times richer than Obama, who falls in the still-impressive-to-most-of-us range of $2.2 million to $7.5 million.

"I think it's almost hard to conceptualize what $250 million means," said Shamus Khan, a Columbia University sociologist who studies the wealthy. "People say Romney made $50,000 a day while not working last year. What do you do with all that money? I can't even imagine spending it. Well, maybe ..."

Of course, an unbelievable boatload of bucks is just one way to think of Romney's net worth, and the 44 U.S. presidents make up a pretty small pond for him to swim in. Put alongside America's 400 or so billionaires, Romney wouldn't make a ripple.

So here's a look where Romney's riches rank ? among the most flush Americans, the White House contenders, and the rest of us:

_Within the 1 percent:

"Romney is small potatoes compared with the ultra-wealthy," said Jeffrey Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University who studies the nation's elites.

After all, even in the rarefied world of the top 1 percent, there's a big difference between life at the top and at the bottom.

A household needs to bring in roughly $400,000 per year to make the cut. Romney and his wife, Ann, have been making 50 times that ? more than $20 million a year. In 2009, only 8,274 federal tax filers had income above $10 million. Romney is solidly within that elite 0.006 percent of all U.S. taxpayers.

Congress is flush with millionaires. Only a few are in the Romney realm, including Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004. Kerry's ranking would climb much higher if the fortune of his wife, Teresa Heinz, were counted. She is the widow of Sen. John Heinz, heir to the Heinz ketchup fortune.

Further up the ladder, top hedge fund managers can pocket $1 billion or more in a single year.

At the top of the wealth pile sits Bill Gates, worth $59 billion, according to Forbes magazine's estimates.

_As a potential president:

Romney clearly stands out here. America's super rich generally don't jockey to live in the White House. A few have toyed with the idea, most notably New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom Forbes ranks as the 12th richest American, worth $19.5 billion. A lesser billionaire, Ross Perot, bankrolled his own third-party campaigns in 1992 and 1996.

Many presidents weren't particularly well-off, especially 19th century leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, James Buchanan and Ulysses S. Grant. Nor was the 33rd president, Harry Truman.

"These things ebb and flow," said sociologist Khan. "It's not the case that all presidents were always rich."

A few former chief executives died in debt, including Thomas Jefferson, ranked in a Forbes study as the third-wealthiest president.

Comparing the landlocked wealth of early Americans such as Washington, Jefferson and James Madison, with today's millionaires is tricky, even setting aside the lack of documentation and economic changes over two centuries.

Research by 24/7 Wall St., a news and analysis website, estimated Washington's wealth at the equivalent of $525 million in 2010 dollars.

Yet Washington had to borrow money to pay for his trip to New York for his inauguration in 1789, according to Dennis Pogue, vice president for preservation at Mount Vernon, Washington's Virginia estate. His money was tied up in land, reaping only a modest cash income after farm expenses.

"He was a wealthy guy, there's no doubt about it," Pogue said, and probably among the dozen richest Virginians of his time. But, "the wealthiest person in America then was nothing in comparison to what these folks are today."

_How does Romney stand next to a regular Joe?

He's roughly 1,800 times richer.

The typical U.S. household was worth $120,300 in 2007, according to the Census Bureau's most recent data, although that number is sure to have dropped since the recession. A typical family's income is $50,000.

Calculations from 24/7 Wall St. of the peak lifetime wealth (or peak so far) of Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama add up to a total $118 million ? while Romney reports assets of up to $250 million.

If you consider only those presidents' assets while in office, without millions earned later from speeches and books, their combined total would be substantially lower, and Romney's riches would leave the pack even further behind.

___

Online:

Forbes' richest presidents list: http://tinyurl.com/82erdyb

24/7 Wall St. on presidents' net worth: http://tinyurl.com/328qyu2

___

Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_el_pr/us_how_rich_is_romney

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Washington farmers back labels for genetically modified foods

by Associated Press

KREM.com

Posted on January 26, 2012 at 5:41 PM

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Some Washington state wheat farmers have thrown their support behind legislation requiring labeling of genetically modified foods, giving food safety advocates fresh hope that lawmakers also will get behind the bill.

They haven't been receptive to the idea in the past, and lawmakers at the national level and in more than a dozen states have rejected similar proposals in the past year.

But in an unusual pairing, a handful of Washington wheat farmers have joined so-called "foodies" to back the latest bill, fearing exports will be hurt if and when genetically modified wheat gains federal approval. The U.S. exports half of its wheat, and in Washington, the only bigger export is Boeing Co.'s airplanes.

Biotechnology giants Monsanto and Syngenta have announced plans to begin testing genetically modified wheat, though the product is likely a decade or more from being offered commercially.

Resistance from the European Union and Japan led Monsanto to abandon similar efforts in 2004. Pacific Rim countries haven't historically been friendly to genetically modified products, and they remain the biggest buyers of Washington wheat.

"If we do nothing, we will be destroyed," said Tom Stahl, a fourth-generation farmer in the small town of Waterville, Wash., about 100 miles east of Seattle. "We will lose our markets and that will be devastating for the eastern Washington economy."

Monsanto and Syngenta representatives didn't immediately return messages left after a Thursday hearing on the bill.
?
Dozens of people testified at a packed Senate committee hearing in Olympia, Wash., where the committee chairman raised concerns about passing a bill that may conflict with federal law.

About 50 countries require genetically modified foods to be labeled, but the U.S. isn't one of them. Only Alaska has enacted legislation at the state level, requiring the labeling of genetically engineered fish and shellfish products.

Supporters said that bill was needed to protect one of Alaska's most lucrative and important industries, though genetically engineered fish are not yet on the market.

The Washington bill would require genetically engineered foods or foods containing genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled with the ingredients listed effective July 1, 2014. The rule would apply to all foods sold in the state, although those in which GM ingredients make up less than half of 1 percent would be exempt.

The federal government's position is that approved genetically modified foods are not substantially different than conventional products. Critics say requiring GM foods to be labeled will increase packaging costs and state spending on enforcement.

More than 90 percent of corn and soybeans in this country are grown from genetically modified seed, said Karen Batra, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Biotechnology Industry Association, a trade group that advocates for biotechnology members, including Monsanto and Syngenta.

"Ultimately, you're not providing any meaningful information to consumers, because you end up labeling the majority of products," she said by telephone. "Consumers already have a choice: If they don't want biotech foods, they can buy organic."

Batra declined to speculate on whether opponents would challenge the bill in court if it passed.

Wheat has lagged behind other crops in terms of innovation, and biotechnology offers tools to deal with problems like drought and increase sustainable production, said Jane DeMarchi, the National Association of Wheat Grower's director of government affairs for research and technology.

DeMarchi said in a telephone interview that her group has been talking to people who buy wheat, including those overseas, to determine what they want from U.S. farmers and educate them about genetically modified wheat.

She said she recognized the farmers' concerns but stressed that each one has a choice of what to grow and how to label it.

"We support voluntary labeling of food products, provided it's consistent with U.S. law and trade agreements and that it's truthful and not misleading," she said.

The problem with voluntary labeling is that it puts the burden on companies whose products aren't a problem, said Trudy Bialic, director of public affairs for PCC Natural Markets, the largest consumer owned and operated grocery retailer in the U.S. It supports the bill as a means of educating consumers, preserving the identity of non-GM foods and protecting export sales.

"In my view, a lot of federal law has started at the state level," Bialic said. "This has to start at a state level, because the federal government won't take it up."
?

Source: http://www.krem.com/news/local/138169834.html

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Costa offers $14,460 per person for ruined cruise

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

Seagulls stand on a rock near the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

A view of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian firefighters, top, work on the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, as Italian Financial police scuba divers prepare to dive, bottom, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian Navy scuba divers gestures as they return after assignment of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

ROME (AP) ? Costa Crociere SpA is offering uninjured passengers euro11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for lost baggage and psychological trauma after its cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany when the captain deviated from his route.

Costa, a unit of the world's biggest cruise operator, the Miami-based Carnival Corp., also said it would reimburse passengers the full costs of their cruise, travel expenses and any medical expenses sustained after the grounding.

The agreement was announced Friday after negotiations between Costa representatives and Italian consumer groups who say they represent 3,206 cruise ship passengers from 61 countries who suffered no physical harm when the Costa Concordia hit a reef on Jan. 13.

The deal does not apply to the hundreds of crew on the ship, the roughly 100 cases of people injured or the families who lost loved ones.

Passengers are free to pursue legal action on their own if they aren't satisfied with the deal.

Some consumer groups have already signed on as injured parties in the criminal case against the Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, who is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all passengers were evacuated. He is under house arrest.

In addition, Codacons, one of Italy's best known consumer groups, has engaged two U.S. law firms to launch a class-action lawsuit against Costa and Carnival in Miami, claiming that it expects to get anywhere from euro125,000 ($164,000) to euro1 million ($1.3 million) per passenger.

But Roberto Corbella, who represented Costa in the negotiations, said the deal offered Friday provides passengers with quick, "generous," and certain restitution that consumer groups estimate could amount to some euro14,000 per passenger including the reimbursements.

"The big advantage that they have is an immediate response, no legal expenses, and they can put this whole thing behind them," he told The Associated Press.

Angry passenger Herbert Greszuk, a 62-year-old German who left behind everything he had with him, including his tuxedo, camera, jewelry, and even his dentures, told the AP before the compensation was announced that it was an issue of accountability.

"Something like this must not be allowed to happen again. So many people died; it's simply inexcusable," he said.

The Concordia gashed its hull on reefs off the island of Giglio after Schettino made an unauthorized deviation from its approved route to bring it closer to Giglio. Some 4,200 passengers and crew were hastily evacuated after the Concordia ran aground and capsized a few kilometers away near the port of Giglio.

Sixteen bodies have been recovered and another 16 remain unaccounted for and presumed dead. Search efforts for them resumed Friday as salvage crews prepared to begin extracting some 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil before it leaks.

Italy's civil protection office on Friday released a list of some of the other possibly toxic substances aboard the cruise liner amid concerns of possible environmental pollution. They include 50 liters of insecticide and 41 cubic meters of lubricants, among other things.

But so far, even though there has been some film detected in the waters around the ship, tests on the waters indicate nothing outside the norm, according to Tuscany's regional environment agency.

"Toxic tests have all resulted negative," the agency said. "For now, there are no significant signs of sea water pollution."

The crystal clear seas around Giglio are a haven for scuba divers and form part of a marine sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.

Passengers have said the evacuation was chaotic, with crew members unprepared to deal with an emergency and constantly downplaying the seriousness of the situation. Coast guard data shows the captain only sounded the evacuation alarm an hour after the initial collision, well after the Concordia had listed to the point that many lifeboats couldn't be lowered.

Schettino has admitted he had taken the ship on "touristic navigation" near Giglio but has said the rocks he hit weren't charted on his nautical maps.

Codacons has called for a criminal investigation into the not-infrequent practice of "tourist navigation" ? steering huge cruise ships close to shore in a publicity stunt to give passengers a view of the sites.

The chief executive of Costa, Pier Luigi Foschi, told an Italian parliamentary committee this week that "tourist navigation" wasn't illegal, and was a "cruise product" increasingly sought out by passengers and offered by cruise lines to try to stay competitive.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-27-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-000bdbe5538e45a482477603fe260742

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January rally interrupted as buyers pull back (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? A month-long rally on Wall Street appears to be sputtering as stocks slipped on Thursday in what investors called a possible warning of weakness ahead.

Weaker-than-expected home sales figures and a group of mixed earnings reports tempered the market's recent buying interest.

With the S&P 500 up nearly 5 percent for the year, analysts said the market was due for a pullback. Wall Street has advanced in recent weeks as U.S. data raised expectations the economic recovery was picking up steam.

"This market is tired and overbought, and we're seeing the results of that today," said Larry McMillan, president of McMillan Analysis Corp.

"After yet another knee-jerk rally on moderately positive economic news, the buyers are out of gas," McMillan said.

Stocks began higher, helped by the Federal Reserve's vow on Wednesday to keep interest rates near zero at least until the end of 2014, a support for buying of risky assets.

But gains were short-lived and the market turned lower in the morning. The Dow's losses were limited by Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), which rose 2.1 percent to $111.31. The heavy equipment maker posted a jump in quarterly earnings that far exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Housing-related stocks led the reversal after sales of new single-family homes fell for the first time in four months in December. It followed Wednesday's soft pending home sales report and dented optimism that housing may have reached a bottom.

Toll Brothers Inc (TOL.N) lost 5 percent to $22.07. The PHLX housing sector index (.HGX) declined 1.3 percent.

Banks, which stand to benefit from a recovery in housing, also fell. The KBW Bank index (.BKX) dropped 2.2 percent. SunTrust Banks Inc (STI.N) shed 5.2 percent to $20.50 after Deutsche Bank lowered its rating on the stock.

AT&T Inc (T.N) posted a $6.7 billion quarterly loss, in part on a break-up fee for its failed T-Mobile USA merger. The shares fell 2.5 percent to $29.45 and were the primary reason the telecom sector was the worst of the S&P's 10 sectors.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 22.33 points, or 0.18 percent, at 12,734.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 7.60 points, or 0.57 percent, at 1,318.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 13.03 points, or 0.46 percent, at 2,805.28.

Stocks also rose early after data showed orders for durable manufactured goods rose more than expected in December, while unemployment benefit claims last week rose only moderately.

3M Co (MMM.N), a conglomerate with operations throughout the economy, also supported the Dow after it reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings as demand from industrial and transport markets offset weak sales to makers of consumer electronics. The shares rose 1.2 percent to $87.58.

This is one of the busiest weeks of earnings season, with 117 S&P companies expected to report. According to Thomson Reuters data, 59 percent of the 152 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings beat analysts' forecasts, down from the 70 percent beat rate in recent quarters at this stage.

Amgen Inc's (AMGN.O) shares fell 1.6 percent to $68.08 and weighed on the Nasdaq after the world's largest biotechnology company said it would pay more than $1 billion to buy Micromet Inc (MITI.O), a deal that would give it access to the company's novel cancer treatment technology.

Micromet's shares jumped 32.1 percent to $10.94 and were the most heavily traded on Nasdaq.

About 7.9 billion shares exchanged hands on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq on Thursday.

(Reporting By Angela Moon; additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Prosecutors ordered to identify NYC terror witness (AP)

NEW YORK ? A judge gave federal prosecutors until a week from Wednesday to give up the name of a witness they say was recruited for a chilling, al-Qaida-sanctioned plot for suicide bombers to attack the New York City subways with explosives made from beauty supplies.

Lawyers for alleged plotter Adis Madunjanin had demanded to know the identity of the man, referred to only as John Doe in court papers, before Madunjanin goes to trial later this year.

At a pretrial hearing on in Brooklyn federal court in Wednesday, prosecutors initially resisted identifying the government witness ? "Mr. John Doe" one called him ? citing concerns about his safety. But U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie said Madunjanin's lawyers had a right to know the name.

"They have to prepare a defense," the judge said.

However, the judge also agreed to allow the government to provide the name under a protective order barring the defense from disclosing it to the public.

In a revised indictment filed last week in Brooklyn, Medunjanin was hit with a new allegation that he ? along with former high school classmates from Queens, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay ? tried to recruit John Doe to travel to Pakistan "to wage violent jihad."

It was the first time the government had linked a fourth person in the U.S. for what prosecutors call three "coordinated suicide bombing attacks" on Manhattan subway lines.

Medunjanin, 27, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the new indictment, which added a charge of use of a destructive device. He had previously pleaded not guilty to conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, providing material support to a terrorist organization and other counts.

Prosecutors allege that Medunjanin, Zazi and Ahmedzay tried to recruit the fourth man before the three went to Afghanistan in 2008 to join the Taliban and fight U.S. soldiers. The three fell under tutelage of al-Qaida operatives, who gave them weapons training in their Pakistan camp and asked them to become suicide bombers, authorities say.

The new indictment doesn't say what became of the fourth man.

After returning, Zazi, a former Denver airport shuttle driver, cooked up explosives with beauty supplies and set out for New York City around the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. After becoming suspicious he was being watched by law enforcement, he abandoned the plan and returned to Colorado.

Zazi and Ahmedzay have since admitted in guilty pleas that they wanted to avenge U.S. aggression in the Arab world by becoming martyrs. Both could testify against Medunjanin at a trial expected to begin in mid-April.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_terror

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Pride, Frustration and Determination as Egyptians Celebrate Their Revolution (Time.com)

Tens of thousands of Egyptians packed shoulder to shoulder into Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Some, particularly Islamist supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and the ultra-Islamist Salafis' Nour party, came out to celebrate their victories after a year of political discovery.

Between them, the Islamist parties won a combined 72% of available seats in the lower house of parliament in the country's first democratic election in more than a half century. "We are here to celebrate what we've achieved, and reiterate what we haven't achieved," said Mohamed Abdel Ghafar, a 40-year-old teacher sporting a Freedom and Justice Party hat. "We achieved the elections and the ousting of Mubarak, putting the symbols of corruption on trial, setting a date for the transition of authority, and lifting the emergency law," he added. Nearby, a speaker on the Brotherhood's stage trumpeted congratulations to Egypt's heroes -- that would be everyone who came out to help overthrow the president.

But thousands of those on Tahrir Square, Wednesday, also came out to protest. While many express satisfactin with the election result, frustration over economic woes, endemic corruption, and the slow pace of reform has deepened in the year since Mubarak's fall. The focus of much of that anger has been the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the junta that took over from Mubarak last February and has shown little interest in ceding complete executive authority to a civilian government. (MORE: Egyptians Mark Their Revolution's Anniversary with Mixed Feelings)

Men, women, and families thronged beneath banners demanding an end to military rule and justice for those killed and injured by security forces during the uprising and protests since. Liberal youth activists even chanted for the execution of SCAF chief Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, hoisting posters depicting faces of Mubarak officials, as well as Tantawi and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"We believe that SCAF lost its legitimacy in August and now it's ruling the country with force," said Mohamed al-Essawy, 24, who held a large stencil depicting the faces of Tantawi and the Brotherhood's speaker of parliament hovering over bodies of slain activists. "They're playing chess with the revolution," he explained. "Anything supervised by SCAF is illegitimate, ranging from the parliament to the constitution."

Liberals, youth activists, and political analysts have increasingly alleged that a conspiracy exists between the Brotherhood and the junta, pointing to the former's seeming compliance with military-drafted rules and declarations. However, the majority of Egyptians seem to disagree. (PHOTOS: Revolution in Egypt: 18 Days That Shook the World)

On January 24th, Tantawi announced the termination of the country's emergency law on national television, in a move aimed at currying favor with the protesters ahead of the one year anniversary of the uprising. For Brotherhood supporters, and many others in Tahrir on Wednesday, the concession seemed like an additional victory. But an exemption decreed by Tantawi, which allows the emergency law's provisions to be applied in cases of "thuggery", had human rights groups crying foul -- the imprecise term has been widely used by the military to prosecute activists over the past year. Human Rights Watch warned that the exception would "invite abuse."

Demonstrators poured into the downtown square throughout the day, many marching the same routes they had taken a year ago to start the historic rebellion. That day was fraught with tension and violence, as protesters broke through police lines and braved volleys of tear gas, astounded and emboldened by the power of their collective action. There were no police lines to cross to get to Tahrir for the anniversary event, and the crowd was far larger this time than it had been a year ago. But nostalgia ran high. Tahrir pulsed with the national pride that had characterized the 18-days that brought down Mubarak. And the crowd's diversity stirred the familiar debate and exchange of ideas that many Egyptians had reveled in a year ago, as men and women from across the country and its social classes first camped in the square, united by the common goal of ousting Mubarak. (PHOTOS: Police and Protesters Clash in Cairo)

"We were not divided back then," remembered Mohamed Farghaly, a university student. "On January 25th 2011, we were unified. We came down to call for the fall of the regime, and at the time, we thought that Mubarak was the regime," he said. "Then we found out that he wasn't." Farghaly admits that his realization hasn't been shared by everyone. "The majority is staying at home," he added, claiming they had been swayed by the "liars" on state TV. "That's the division, and it's one of the biggest challenges."

Indeed, how the numbers fall on either side of that division will impact Tahrir's dynamic in the days ahead. Already, many say they will camp in the square as long as it takes to force the military from power. Some have predicted a repeat of the violent clashes between protesters and security forces that characterized a series of demonstrations in November and December, particularly if large numbers remain in Tahrir and the military moves to clear it. "Some of the people think that we need to stay until SCAF leaves," said one Brotherhood supporter, Mohamed Said. "As Muslim Brotherhood, we don't believe that. We are here to deliver a message." That doesn't mean the revolution is over, he added, but Egyptians can make their voices heard in other ways.

With reporting by Sharaf al-Hourani / Cairo

MORE: How Democracy Can Work in the Middle East

VIDEO: Why They Protest: Egypt, Libya and Syria

View this article on Time.com

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120126/wl_time/08599210538400

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Romania Protests Romanian Continue Despite Prime Minister's Calls For Unity (PHOTOS)

BUCHAREST, Romania ? Romania's prime minister on Tuesday used a national holiday to call for unity as thousands of protesters angry at the government's failure to reverse falling living standards turned their ire toward state media.

Emil Boc addressed Parliament in a special session on the country's Day of Unity, urging Romanians to work together to overcome economic hardship. The government has been battling to contain 12 days of demonstrations fueled by frustration pent up since the country's troubled transition to democracy after its 1989 revolution.

In his first public remarks about the protests, President Traian Basescu accused opposition figures and the press of indulging in what he called "the joy of destruction," and of undermining and ignoring his government's achievements.

"They want the resignation of the president, the resignation of the government, the resignation of Parliament, that's to say a Romania that is not governed," he said.

Some 5,000 people jeered the government in the northeast city of Iasi, calling for early elections. Thousands also massed outside the government in the capital Bucharest to rally against harsh austerity measures, and marched to the headquarters of the public television station, which they accused of having a pro-government bias.

"We have had enough of the government," said Teodor Ciodariu, a 58-year-old retired interior ministry officer. "The news they (Romanian public television) broadcast does not reflect reality."

Protesters then marched downtown to University Square, which has been a focal point for protests since the anti-communist uprising against the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Romania signed up for a euro20-billion ($26 billion) loan with the IMF, European Union and World Bank in 2009 to help pay salaries and pensions, when the economy shrunk by more than 7 percent.

In 2010, the government hiked sales tax from 19 to 24 percent, and cut public workers salaries by one-fourth to reduce the budget deficit. Romanians are also angry over cronyism, widespread corruption and a perception that the government is not interested in the problems of ordinary people in this nation of 22 million.

A 21-year-old Romanian Army officer became a symbol of the protest late Monday. Lt. Alexandru Gheorghe's call for the nation's dignity to be restored attracted widespread attention because it is illegal for army members to protest publicly.

Gheorghe said he traveled some 500 kilometers (312 miles) to Bucharest from his military base to join the protesters.

"I can no longer bear the way we are insulted" by the current government, he said in comments broadcast on Antena 3 TV.

"I saw old people beaten (in the protests) and said to myself that we, the officers, who could die tomorrow in a mission in Afghanistan, must have the courage to fight and tell the truth here in our country," Gheorghe said.

Romania has about 1,700 troops serving in Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led force there.

The defense ministry said it was investigating what action to take against Gheorghe.

Boc also appointed a new foreign minister to replace Teodor Baconschi, who was fired Monday for making insulting comments about the protesters. Cristian Diaconescu, a lawmaker and supporter of Basescu, previously served as foreign minister in 2009.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/romania-protests_n_1228525.html

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Bird Flu Scientists Agree to Pause H5N1 Research

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A national biosecurity panel in the United States had asked researchers who produced a more contagious form of the bird flu virus to keep some data secret.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=924347f31b0f4b2874a0134903f6877b

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Israel arrests two Hamas officials at Red Cross office (Reuters)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? Israeli police Monday arrested two senior Hamas members at an International Committee of the Red Cross building in East Jerusalem where they had taken shelter for some 18 months, Red Cross and Israeli officials said.

Palestinian lawmaker Mohammed Totah and Khaled Abu Arafah, a former cabinet minister, face possible expulsion from the city when they appear before an Israeli judge this week, Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman said.

The ICRC confirmed the arrests and said that as East Jerusalem was an occupied territory under international law, Israel was not allowed to forcibly transfer Palestinians.

Israel had revoked Totah and Arafah's Jerusalem residency permits in July 2010, a step it has also taken against other Hamas members.

"Two Hamas activists were arrested at the Red Cross building. They were hiding in the building for a year and a half after their ID cards had been revoked on suspicions of being active in terrorist activity," Rosenfeld said.

Israel, along with the United States and the European Union, considers the Islamist Hamas movement a terrorist group. Hamas condemned the arrests as kidnapping by "the Zionist enemy."

Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it as part of its capital in a move never recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as capital of a state they seek to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In response to Monday's arrests, a crowd of Palestinians smashed the gate of the Red Cross compound in Jerusalem, angry at what they charged was the organization's failure to protect Totah and Abu Arafah.

Hamas said both men deserved immunity from arrest because they were public officials.

In Geneva, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said: "It will not be in accordance with international humanitarian law" to deport the men as East Jerusalem is considered occupied land and its Palestinian residents protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forcible transfers of people.

Palestinian officials said at least 26 Palestinian lawmakers were in Israeli detention.

Last week, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, also of Hamas, was detained on suspicion of what the Israeli military termed "involvement with terrorist groups."

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Labib Nasir and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, writing by Sami Aboudi)

(This update adds the dropped word "arrested" in the lead)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_israel_hamas

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Mystery Sony-branded Arc appears in Resident Evil trailer, Umbrella Corp. doesn't comment on rumor or speculation (video)

While most rumors of a high-definition Arc were laid to rest with the reveal of the LTE'd Xperia Ion and the sumptuous Xperia S at CES, it hasn't quite stopped smartphone fans poring over the web for a sniff of its possible existence. This time -- get that salt shaker ready -- it's a cameo in the trailer for the latest cash-in release from the Resident Evil franchise. The hardware is certainly that of an Xperia Arc, but it's the first time we've seen a Sony-branded version -- no Ericsson here. Although it's not enough to convince us just yet that we're looking at a super-screened Arc, with Sony rumored to be readying plenty of phones for 2012, it looks like the Arc HD rumor zombie may need another bullet in the head.

[Thanks Alex]

Continue reading Mystery Sony-branded Arc appears in Resident Evil trailer, Umbrella Corp. doesn't comment on rumor or speculation (video)

Mystery Sony-branded Arc appears in Resident Evil trailer, Umbrella Corp. doesn't comment on rumor or speculation (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sweeping genetic analysis of rare disease yields common mechanism of hypertension

Sweeping genetic analysis of rare disease yields common mechanism of hypertension

Monday, January 23, 2012

Analyzing all the genes of dozens of people suffering from a rare form of hypertension, Yale University researchers have discovered a new mechanism that regulates the blood pressure of all humans.

The findings by an international research team headed by Yale scientists, published online Jan. 22 in the journal Nature, may help explain what goes wrong in the one billion people who suffer from high blood pressure. The study also demonstrates the power of new DNA sequencing methods to find previously unknown disease-causing genes.

The team used a technique called whole exome sequencing ? an analysis of the makeup of all the genes ? to study a rare inherited form of hypertension characterized by excess levels of potassium in the blood. They found mutations in either of two genes that caused the disease in affected members of 41 families suffering from the condition.

The two genes interact with one another in a complex that targets other proteins for degradation, and they orchestrate the balance between salt reabsorption and potassium secretion in the kidney.

"These genes were not previously suspected to play a role in blood pressure regulation, but if they are lost, the kidney can't put the brakes on salt reabsorption, resulting in hypertension," said Richard Lifton, Sterling Professor and chair of the Department of Genetics at Yale and senior author of the paper.

The mutations had previously been difficult to find because there were very few affected members in each family, so traditional methods to map the genes' locations had been ineffective.

"The mutations in one gene were almost all new mutations found in affected patients but not their parents, while mutations in the other gene could be either dominant or recessive. The exome sequencing technology was ideally suited to cutting through these complexities," said Lynn Boyden of Yale, the first author of the paper.

The next step is to establish how these new components are involved in regulating sodium reabsorption in the kidney, in hopes of finding new ways intervene in hypertension, a major global health problem.

"We are finding all the individual parts to a complicated machine, and we need to understand how they are all put together to make the machine work," said Lifton, who is also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

###

Yale University: http://www.yale.edu

Thanks to Yale University for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116930/Sweeping_genetic_analysis_of_rare_disease_yields_common_mechanism_of_hypertension

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Congress puts anti-piracy bills on ice (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Lawmakers on Friday indefinitely postponed anti-piracy legislation that pits Hollywood against Silicon Valley, two days after major Internet companies staged an online protest by blacking out parts of prominent websites.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid postponed a showdown vote in his chamber on the Protect Intellectual Property Act, or PIPA for short, that had been scheduled for January 24.

Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, followed suit, saying his panel would delay action on similar legislation called the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, until there is wider agreement on the legislation.

"It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products," Smith said in a statement.

The bills are aimed at curbing access to overseas websites that traffic in pirated content and counterfeit products, such as movies and music. But support for the legislation has eroded in recent days because of fears that legitimate websites could end up in legal jeopardy.

The entertainment industry wants legislation to protect its movies and music from counterfeiters, but technology companies are concerned the laws would undermine Internet freedoms, be difficult to enforce and encourage frivolous lawsuits.

On Wednesday protests blanketed the Internet, turning Wikipedia and other popular websites dark for 24 hours. Google, Facebook, Twitter and others protested the proposed legislation but did not shut down.

In a brief statement, Reid said there was no reason why concerns about the legislation cannot be resolved. He offered no new date for the vote.

Reid's action comes a day after a senior Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the measure lacked the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle in the 100-member Senate.

A handful of senators who had co-sponsored the legislation dropped their support after Wednesday's protests started.

Reid expressed hope on Friday that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, who has been shepherding the bill through Congress, could help resolve differences in the legislation.

"I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks," Reid said.

Leahy said in a statement that he was committed to addressing online piracy and hoped other members of Congress would work with him to get a bill signed into law this year.

"But the day will come when the Senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem," he said.

"Criminals who do nothing but peddle in counterfeit products and stolen American content are smugly watching how the United States Senate decided it was not even worth debating how to stop the overseas criminals from draining our economy," Leahy said.

(Reporting By Thomas Ferraro and Jasmin Melvin; Editing by Bill Trott, Dave Zimmerman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wr_nm/us_usa_congress_internet

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Film reveals new 'West Memphis 3' witnesses

Danny Johnston / AP file

Jessie Misskelley, Jr., James Baldwin, and Damien Echols were set free in August after serving nearly 20 years in prison.

?

By Kurt Orzeck, The Wrap

Peter Jackson's "West of Memphis" documentary reveals fresh allegations in the 1993 murder case of of three young boys in Arkansas.

In the documentary, screening at Sundance Friday, three new witnesses undergo polygraph tests. They declared under penalty of perjury that the nephew of Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of the young victims, told them his uncle was behind the murders.

According to lawyers working on the so-called West Memphis 3 case, three friends of Michael Hobbs Jr. came forward a few weeks ago after seeing a "48 Hours" special on the case. Damein Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. have long professed their innocence of the killings, and the case, and fight for their release has been chronicled in a trilogy of documentaries, most recently "Paradise Lost."?

In August 2011, they were freed after nearly two decades behind bars and intense celebrity lobbying for their release.

'West Memphis Three' Killers Freed After 18 Years

Lonnie Soury, part of the investigative team being financed in part by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, told TheWrap that the new information came from a Dec. 11 call on the confidential tip line set up three years ago.

"Three eyewitnesses placed Terry Hobbs with the children immediately before they disappeared," Soury said.

This contracted Hobbs' statement under oath that he didn't see the children the day they were murdered. The team quickly brought the witnesses to Washington, D.C. for polygraphs, he told TheWrap.

"This is critical new information," Stephen Braga, an attorney for Echols, said. "With the secret now out, let?s hope that someone in the Hobbs family has the heart, the soul and the courage to come forward to tell the truth directly."

Braga has given the new investigative materials to a district attorney for review.

The earlier convictions were not overturned completely. Rather through a legal maneuver, the three men will ?maintain their innocence, while acknowledging that there was enough evidence against them for a murder conviction.

A district court judge said the men had served their time, but issued a 10-year suspended sentence against them.

Soury said that the information was released Friday in advance of the screening, because the film covers some of the recent developments. "Once the information was out there, it would not be confidential."

According to an account by law firm Ropes & Gray, one witness that recently came forward said Hobbs Jr. picked up his friends in his truck.

"He was very quiet and upset," the witness said. "Michael then said to us, ?You are not going to believe what my dad told me today. My Uncle Terry murdered the three little boys.? According to Michael, his dad called this ?The Hobbs Family Secret,? and he asked us to keep it a secret and not tell anyone.?

Another witness recounted said that, while playing pool with Hobbs Jr. in his basement, he made the same revelation.

A third witness said that, while he was at Hobbs Jr.?s home in 2003 or 2004, he was told he couldn't go to the basement to play pool because Michael Hobbs Sr. and Terry Hobbs were talking. The witness said he ? listened with Michael Jr. at the top of the stairs. I heard two men talking. One appeared to be very upset even crying and he said ?I am sorry, I regret it.? The other man was trying to console him and said, ?You are in the clear, no one thinks you are a suspect, those guys are already in prison.? ?

Eyewitnesses have said they saw Hobbs Sr. with the three boys on the day of the murders. DNA consistent with Hobbs was found in the knot of a shoelace that was used to tie another one of the victims.

Hobbs has insisted he's innocent, saying he didn't see the boys the day they were killed.

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Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10201031-film-reveals-new-west-memphis-3-witnesses

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Turkish hospital performs triple limb transplant (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey ? A hospital in southern Turkey on Saturday was attempting the world's first triple limb transplant, attaching two arms and one leg to a 34-year-old man, the country's state-run news agency reported.

A team of doctors at Akdeniz University Hospital, in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, was at the same time transplanting the face of the same donor onto another patient ? a 19-year-old man. It would be Turkey's first face transplant.

"Today could be a day of many firsts for the medical world," the Anadolu Agency quoted Dr. Zafer Aydin as saying.

"We are hoping that the operation is a success and that it is a world first," said Aydin, who heads the organ transplant unit at the hospital in western Turkey where the donor's limbs were removed. "Two arms and a leg have never been transplanted on one patient until today."

The hospital in Antalya said an announcement would be made after the surgery.

Anadolu said Atilla Kavdir, the 34-year-old receiving the limbs, lost his arms and right leg when he was 11 after he hit power lines outside his home with an iron rod to scare away pigeons and received an electric shock.

The teenage face transplant recipient was burned in a house fire when he was a baby.

The limbs and the face became available early on Saturday and the hospital began the operation at 3:15 a.m., Anadolu said.

The world's first double arm transplant was in Germany in 2008, while the first double leg transplant took place in Spain in July 2011.

More than a dozen face transplants have been carried out around the world, starting in November 2005 with a French woman who was mauled by her dog. The first face transplant in the U.S. was in December 2008.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_he_me/eu_turkey_multiple_transplants

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Russian tycoons' marathon London legal battle ends (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? A $6 billion lawsuit between two of Russia's best-known tycoons ended in London on Thursday after a four-month High Court hearing that provided a sometimes deeply unflattering insight into the ruthless business world of post-Soviet Russia.

Judge Elizabeth Gloster reserved her judgment in the case, in which former Kremlin insider Boris Berezovsky claimed he was extorted into handing the crown jewel of his business empire to Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea soccer club.

Her ruling, expected at the end of March or in early April, will bring the curtain down on one of the biggest private lawsuits in British history, with legal costs alone reported to be as high as 100 million pounds ($155 million).

Berezovsky, 65, says Abramovich intimidated him into selling his stake in oil firm Sibneft at a knockdown price. Abramovich, 45, denies Berezovsky ever had an interest in the firm.

The titanic legal battle has provided rich media pickings in Britain ever since a tussle between the two tycoons and their retinues of bodyguards in a Hermes luxury boutique in London in 2007, when Berezovsky served Abramovich with a writ.

Hearings provided details of the extravagant lifestyles enjoyed by Russia's super-rich, with helicopter flights to luxury skiing resorts in the Alps, Caribbean cruises, large English country estates and French chateaux.

The two key witnesses traded insults during the 43 days of hearings, Berezovsky dismissing his one-time ally as not "smart" while Abramovich described his former mentor as "something of a megalomaniac".

MURKY BUSINESS WORLD

The case threw a powerful spotlight on the conduct of business in Russia in the decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union, when opaque deals to sell off state assets turned a handful of insiders into the owners of multi-billion dollar natural resources companies.

A Kremlin insider in the 1990s under former President Boris Yeltsin, Berezovsky left Russia in late 2000 after falling out with Yeltsin's hand-picked successor Vladimir Putin.

He says he gave up his Sibneft stake because he feared that if he refused, Abramovich would ensure Putin had the shares expropriated.

Abramovich says he paid Berezovsky $2 billion for his political patronage and protection from criminal gangs, but not as dividends from Sibneft because Berezovsky was never an owner.

Abramovich has since sold Sibneft to the Russian state natural gas monopoly Gazprom.

Berezovsky also accuses Abramovich of selling, without permission, his shares in aluminium producer RUSAL.

The trial has been followed closely by Russia watchers from London and Moscow for new clues into Russian business and politics under Putin, now prime minister but expected to become president again this year.

(Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/wl_nm/us_britain_russia_berezovsky

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Smartphone Prices Slashed in CES Aftermath

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/6-tOhoy7pXc/

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