murrumbidgee blocker: June 2013

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Iceland received informal approach over Snowden seeking asylum

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland has received an informal approach from an intermediary who says Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who exposed the U.S. government's secret surveillance programs, wants to seek asylum there.

Snowden, the former employee of contractor Booz Allen Hamilton who worked in an NSA facility in Hawaii, made world headlines after providing details of the program to the Guardian and Washington Post and then fleeing to Hong Kong.

In a column in Icelandic daily Frettabladid, WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson wrote that a middleman had approached him on behalf of Snowden.

"On 12 June, I received a message from Edward Snowden where he asked me to notify the Icelandic government that he wanted to seek asylum in Iceland," Hrafnsson, who is also an investigative journalist in Iceland, told Reuters.

The Icelandic government, which has refused to say whether they would grant asylum to Snowden, confirmed it had received the message from Hrafnsson.

"Kristinn Hrafnsson has contacted two ministries in an informal way but not the ministers. There has been no formal approach in this matter," a government spokesman said.

Hrafnsson declined to name the go-between to Reuters.

Snowden has mentioned Iceland as a possible refuge.

Iceland has a reputation for promoting Internet freedoms, but Snowden has said did not travel there immediately from the United States as he feared the country of only 320,000 could be pressured by Washington.

"Iceland could be pushed harder, quicker, before the public could have a chance to make their feelings known, and I would not put that past the current U.S. administration," Snowden said in an online forum in the Guardian on Monday.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sex crimes, visited Iceland several times in the run-up to some of the website's major releases. Assange denies any wrongdoing.

WikiLeaks won a ruling this year in Iceland's Supreme Court against MasterCard's local partner. The court upheld a lower court's ruling that the payment card firm had illegally ended its contract with the website. Wikileaks' funding had been squeezed without the ability to accept card payments.

(Reporting by Robert Robertson; Writing by Alistair Scrutton; Editing by Patrick Lannin and Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iceland-received-informal-approach-over-snowden-seeking-asylum-144414246.html

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Monday, June 17, 2013

After throat grabbing, Chef Nigella Lawson has ?left the family home ...

Husband Charles Saatchi describes incident as ?a playful tiff?

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Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, 53, has ?left the family home with her children,? a spokesperson says, after photographs emerged showing an argument at a London restaurant during which her wealthy husband grabbed her throat four times. Concerned onlookers reported Lawson was ?tearful? and looked ?scared.?

Charles Saatchi, a 70-year-old art collector and co-founder of the famous Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency, told to the?Evening Standard (where he is a columnist) that the photos left a ?far more drastic and violent impression? than what happened. He said Lawson took the children away to avoid paparazzi.

?About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella?s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point,? he said. He described it as, ?a playful tiff,? and added, ?Nigella?s tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.?

In 2007, Lawson called her husband, whom she married in 2003, ?an exploder,? reports The Telegraph.

Lawson spoke to Maclean?s in February about her latest Italian recipe book Nigellissima.

Source: http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/06/17/after-throat-grabbing-chef-nigella-lawson-has-left-the-family-home/

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Putin: US-Russia positions on Syria don't coincide

President Barack Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Monday, June 17, 2013. Obama and Putin discussed the ongoing conflict in Syria during their bilateral meeting. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

From right, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, US President Barack Obama and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy attend a media conference regarding EU-US trade at the G-8 summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland on Monday, June 17, 2013. British Prime Minister Cameron said he expects formal agreement to launch negotiations on a European-American free trade agreement. He also said a pact to slash tariffs on exports would boost employment and growth on both sides of the Atlantic. (AP Photo/Andrew Winning, Pool)

US President Barack Obama delivers a keynote address ahead of the G-8 summit at Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Monday, June 17, 2013. (AP Photo/ Paul Faith, Pool)

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) ? Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Barack Obama on Monday that their positions on Syria do not "coincide" but the two leaders said during the G-8 summit that they have a shared interest in stopping the violence that has ravaged the Middle Eastern country during a two-year-old civil war.

Obama acknowledged in a bilateral meeting with Putin in Northern Ireland that they have a "different perspective" on Syria but he said that both leaders wanted to address the fierce fighting and also wanted to secure chemical weapons in the country. The U.S. president said both sides would work to develop talks in Geneva aimed at ending the country's bloody civil war.

"We do have differing perspectives on the problem but we share an interest in reducing the violence, securing chemical weapons and ensuring that they're neither used nor are they subject to proliferation," Obama said. "We want to try to resolve the issue through political means if possible."

Putin said "of course our opinions do not coincide, but all of us have the intention to stop the violence in Syria and to stop the growth of victims and to solve the situation peacefully, including by bringing the parties to the negotiations table in Geneva. We agreed to push the parties to the negotiations table."

While Putin has called for negotiated peace talks, he has not urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power, and he remains one of Assad's strongest political and military allies. The White House did not expect any breakthrough with Putin on Syria during the gathering of the Group of Eight Summit at a lakeside golf resort near Enniskillen and the meeting further highlighted the rift between the two countries on how to address the fighting in the country.

Obama announced Friday that the U.S. would start sending weaponry, while Britain and France remained concerned that the firepower might end up helping anti-democratic extremists linked to Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia. Putin has defended Russia's continuing supply of weapons to Assad's military.

At least 93,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict since it erupted in March 2011, according to a recent U.N. estimate. Millions have been displaced.

The European Union has also allowed a weapons embargo against Syria to expire, allowing members of the 27-nation bloc to arm the rebels. France and Britain are moving in that direction, but the German government opposes such a move.

Assad warned that Europe "will pay a price" if it delivers weapons to rebels who are trying to topple his government. In an interview with the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Runschau published Monday, Assad dismissed the Obama administration's contention that the Syrian army used chemical weapons against the rebels.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said following a meeting with Putin on Sunday that the West needs to unite behind a diplomatic push that transitions Assad from power.

Obama's discussions with Putin capped a busy day that included a preview of future negotiations toward a broad trade deal with the European Union and speech in Belfast where he called peace in Northern Ireland a "blueprint" for those living amid conflict around the world.

Pointing to potential economic benefits, Obama said the U.S. would host the first round of negotiations on the trade deal with the European Union next month in Washington. The agreement aims to forge a free trade pact designed to slash tariffs, boost exports and fuel badly needed economic growth.

Obama predicted the parties would need to overcome sensitivities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. While leaders would be giving strong mandates to their negotiators, Obama said he suspected the leaders themselves would need to intervene at certain points to work through hang-ups.

At the start of his European trip, Obama noted the progress of peace in Northern Ireland and summoned young people at Belfast's Waterfront Hall to take responsibility for their country's future, warning that there is "more to lose now than there's ever been."

"The terms of peace may be negotiated by political leaders, but the fate of peace is up to each of us," Obama said near a glass-fronted building, which would never have been built during the city's long era of car bombs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-17-EU-Obama/id-597d3269c0ab4f1e9adea96170ccab87

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G8 faces uncertain recoveries, turbulent markets

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at the G8 UK Innovation Conference at the Siemens Crystal Building in London, Friday June 14, 2013. As part of UK's G8 Presidency, the G8 Innovation Conference brings together 300 leading international entrepreneurs, researchers, scientists, designers and policy makers. (AP Photo/Facundo Arrizabalaga, Pool)

A security person patrols a check point close to The Lough Erne Golf Resort Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Thursday, June 13, 2013. The Resort is due to host the G8 summit on the 17th and 18th June. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

The Lough Erne Golf Resort Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Thursday, June 13, 2013. The Resort which is surrounded by water is due to host the G8 summit on the 17th and 18th June. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

A security person patrols razor wire close to The Lough Erne Golf Resort Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Thursday, June 13, 2013. The Resort is due to host the G8 summit on the 17th and 18th June. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (AP) ? Europe is mired in debt and recession. Financial markets have hit violent ups and downs on fears that U.S. stimulus efforts may soon be scaled back. Japan is finally looking up after years of stagnation ? but it remains an open question if the recovery will stick.

That's the global economy that will confront the heads of the Group of Eight leading economies as they gather Monday and Tuesday for their annual summit in Northern Ireland.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will serve as summit host for U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan and Russia. At the top of the agenda: New cooperation to fight tax evasion and increase transparency among governments. Also on the table will be how much help to give to rebels in Syria, and a push for lower trade barriers between the United States and the European Union.

On the sidelines and over dinner, it's expected that the discussions will broaden to include the election results in Iran and data protection, following revelations about a U.S. counterterror surveillance program.

As always, the summit takes place under heavy security, guarded by 8,000 police backed by water cannon. The venue itself is surrounded by extensive security fences, and on three sides by water. There's only one access road to the closest town, Enniskillen, some 5 miles (8 kilometers) away.

While its peace process has been hailed worldwide as a success story, Northern Ireland remains a society troubled by deep-seated divisions between Catholics and Protestants. Officials have said trouble away from the summit site can't be ruled out. Additionally, thousands of anti-capitalist and labor union protesters are expected to march from the town to the summit fence on Monday.

Since last year's G-8 meeting at Camp David in the U.S., there has been a modest economic upswing throughout the developed world and prospects are brighter after five years of turbulence and recession. Yet despite progress, the economic outlook remains fraught with uncertainties.

Chief among the question marks: When will the U.S. Federal Reserve begin to curtail its extraordinary stimulus, which has supported the recovery in the U. S. and helped send markets around the world to new peaks? Global stock and bond markets have whipsawed since May 23, when U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the U.S. central bank might slow its drive to keep long-term borrowing costs low in the coming few months.

Here is a quick picture of where the G-8 countries' economies stand:

UNITED STATES: If Europe is the weak link and Asia the strongest, then the U.S. and Canadian economies are squarely in the middle. The two countries are experiencing steady, if not spectacular, economic growth and job gains.

In the U.S., the once-battered housing sector has been recovering for the past year. Home sales have reached three-year highs. And prices have jumped this spring by the most in seven years. That has encouraged builders to start work on more homes.

The unemployment rate has fallen to 7.6 percent from 8.2 percent a year earlier.

For all the G-8 participants, the most unsettling shift is the possible end of massive monetary stimulus from the Fed ? a factor beyond their immediate control. The Fed's injections of money into the economy through bond purchases ? known as quantitative easing ? had helped send markets soaring.

Now it's not clear which way markets will head.

At previous summits, Obama has pushed European leaders to focus more on growth, rather than austerity. But most European governments have already begun to make that shift.

So Obama is likely to focus on other global concerns, such as the violence in Syria.

JAPAN/ASIA: For once, the bad news for Asia is not coming from Japan. The world's third-largest economy grew at a 4.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised to explain to fellow G-8 leaders his strategies for fostering long-term growth. Over the past few months, the yen has dropped from about 80 yen to the dollar in October to about 94 yen now ? as the Abe administration tried to bring an end to the country's two-decade stagnation.

Japan's central bank has been pumping money into the economy in the hope of stoking inflation ? the country has suffered from falling prices for much of the past 20 years, which has halted growth. One consequence of the new inflationary approach has been the sharp fall in the value of the yen against other countries' currencies. This has made Japanese goods cheaper to the rest of the world, which has boosted exports.

But the lower yen has provoked concern among German officials. Their exporters compete head to head with Japan's in major markets. Abe is scheduled to meet separately with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Abe is likely eager to do some explaining after financial markets see-sawed since he presented his initial, broad-brush reform plans last week. Worries about the effectiveness of these measures, combined with the uncertainty over what the U.S. Fed may do, has pushed Japan's Nikkei index into bear market territory with a 20 percent-plus fall.

EUROPE & RUSSIA: Europe's leaders hope a new trade deal between the EU and the United States can help spur growth. EU trade ministers agreed last Friday on their negotiating position and it's hoped a deal that would scrap the tariffs and regulations that impede trade might be reached next year.

And Europe needs stimulus. Austerity measures introduced by Europe's governments to control their deficits have inflicted severe economic pain and produced social unrest across the group 17 European Union countries that use the euro

The eurozone's economy shrank by 0.2 percent in the first quarter ? the sixth such decline in a row ? and unemployment is at 12.2 percent. The situation is far worse in countries that are struggling to reduce heavy debt burdens ? unemployment stands at 26.8 percent in Spain, 27.0 percent in Greece.

Private companies haven't managed to fill the vacuum created by the drastically reduced government spending. In the United States, by contrast, the government has imposed far milder spending cuts and tax increases.

European leaders have recently agreed to ease up on the pace of deficit reduction ? but have proposed no other large-scale measures to boost growth, at least in the short term.

Russia has seen more than a decade of largely uninterrupted economic growth, thanks to its lucrative oil and gas industries, to become the world's 8th largest economy. However now that energy prices have stabilized, experts say Russia is unlikely to grow as quickly unless it aggressively reforms its economy.

For a reminder of Europe's troubles, the leaders won't have to look far. The Lough Erne resort where they're staying went bankrupt in 2011.

Dublin supermarket owner Jim Treacy borrowed 21 million pounds ($32 million) to open the five-star golf resort in the green rolling lakelands near Enniskillen in 2007 during the credit-fueled real estate boom sweeping the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The end of the boom took with it much of the expected wealthy clientele.

Bankruptcy administrator KPMG has Lough Erne on the market for 10 million pounds. So far, no takers.

____

AP writers Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo and Chris Rugaber in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-16-G8-Economy/id-4db847147a5146b9bbf0a304248b2b71

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Shawn Stefani aces 17 in US Open

ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) ? Shawn Stefani lost track of the ball as soon it rocketed off his 4-iron.

A roaring U.S. Open gallery tracked it for him.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!"

It did Sunday when Stefani aced the 17th hole, making him the first golfer to make a hole-in-one at any U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club, which is hosting the major for the fifth time.

"When the crowd went crazy, I knew it went in," he said.

His shot bounced out of the rough and rolled some 50 feet toward the pin before falling in the cup.

Stefani raised his arms and hopped around the tee in celebration. Caddie Chris Callas gave him a playful hug and a slap on the back.

"I didn't know what to do but jump up and down for joy," Stefani said.

Then he walked down the 229-yard, par-3 hole and planted a kiss on the sweet spot where it landed.

"We're in Philly. There's some great fans up here and I know they can be tough on you and they can love you forever," he said.

USGA Museum officials waited for Stefani near the scorecard trailer and hoped to acquire the ball. Stefani declined.

"It's hiding right now," he said. "I'm going to save it."

But he did pull the ball out of his pocket and showed it off. He also inquired about getting some sort of commemorative plaque from Merion.

The USGA's Far Hills, N.J. museum didn't go home empty-handed ? Stefani donated a signed glove and scorecard.

His only other ace came when he was 13 at Goose Creek Country Club in Baytown, Texas, his hometown.

It was the first ace at Merion, but not at a Philadelphia Open. The first U.S. Open hole-in-one came in 1907, when Jack Hobens aced the 147-yard 10th hole at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shawn-stefani-aces-17-us-open-182341789.html

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Sunday, June 16, 2013

'Man of Steel' takes flight with $125M debut

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? "Man of Steel" leaped over box office expectations in a single weekend.

The Warner Bros. superhero film earned $113 million in its opening weekend at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. The retelling of Superman's backstory earned an additional $12 million from Thursday screenings, bringing its domestic total to $125 million. Original expectations for "Man of Steel" ranged from $75 million to $130 million.

"They finally got the Superman formula right," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "Superhero movies really are the bread and butter of the summer box office. The fact that 'Iron Man 3' has the biggest opening of the year so far and 'Man of Steel' has the second biggest opening of the year just proves that."

"Man of Steel," which stars Henry Cavill as Superman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane, also toppled the record for biggest opening in June held by the Disney-Pixar film "Toy Story 3," which banked $110 million when it opened in 2010. "Superman Returns," the previous Superman film starring Brandon Routh in the titular role, launched with a respectable $52.5 million in 2006.

Sony's "This Is the End" opened in second place behind "Man of Steel" with $20.5 million in its opening weekend. The comedy starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill and Craig Robinson as versions of themselves trapped in a mansion during the apocalypse opened Wednesday, earning a domestic total of $32.8 million. The film cost just $32 million to produce.

"We knew we were going to have competition, but we felt our movie stood on its own and had its own voice," said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution. "I believe we've absolutely proven that. To have this amount of money in the bank with its cost of production, good reviews and word of mouth really puts our feet on solid ground."

In its third weekend at the box office, the Lionsgate illusionist heist film "Now You See Me" fleeced $10.3 million in third place, bringing its total domestic haul to $80 million. Universal's "Fast & Furious 6" arrived in fourth place with $9.4 million, while the studio's invasion horror film "The Purge" starring Ethan Hawke scared up $8.2 million in the fifth spot.

The super openings of "Man of Steel" and "This Is the End" helped to lift the box office 50 percent over last year when "Madagascar 3" and "Prometheus" held on to the top spots. "Man of Steel" will face off against stiff competition next week when Paramount's zombie thriller "World War Z" and the Disney-Pixar's prequel "Monster's University" both debut.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.

1. "Man of Steel," $113 million.

2. "This Is the End," $20.5 million.

3. "Now You See Me," $10.3 million.

4. "Fast & Furious 6," $9.4 million.

5. "The Purge," $8.2 million.

6. "The Internship," $7 million.

7. "Epic," $6 million.

8. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $5.6 million.

9. "After Earth," $3.7 million.

10. "Iron Man 3," $2.9 million.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-16-Box%20Office/id-72ab3a48d5c7459f8ec6caa5f2fff1bf

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World stocks mixed as Asia rebounds

AMSTERDAM (AP) ? Global stocks were mixed Friday as Asia rebounded from a sharp selloff, with U.S. markets losing early gains after unimpressive economic data and a warning from the International Monetary Fund on growth.

The price of oil briefly rose above $98 per barrel ? its highest level since September ? due to geopolitical tensions in the Mideast after US President Barack Obama said he would arm Syrian rebels.

Brenda Kelly, Senior Market Strategist at IG Markets said she sees "signs of exhaustion" in the overall downward trend for the world's stocks, which has been driven by fears the U.S. Federal Reserve might wind down its bond-buying program and that the Bank of Japan has done all it is prepared to do to stimulate the Japanese economy.

But "the suggestion from the Bank of Japan minutes overnight was that more aggressive action could occur, should the policymakers deem it necessary," she said, and "it is extremely unlikely that Federal Reserve President Ben Bernanke will hurry to completely remove the liquidity punchbowl."

Still, observers agreed markets are likely to remain anxious until the Fed meets next Wednesday.

In Europe, Britain's FSTE 100 rose almost 0.1 percent to close at 6,308.26. France's CAC-40 also gained 0.2 percent to 3,805.16, while Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent to 8,127.96.

U.S. markets initially extended the strong gains they made Thursday before turning south.

At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Index was down 0.5 percent to 15,105.30, and the S&P 500 was off 0.4 percent to 1,629.41.

"There are signs that the U.S. recovery is gaining ground and becoming more durable," Christine Lagarde, the IMF's managing director, said in a written statement.

The fund forecast U.S. economic growth of 1.9 percent this year, but warned that attempts to reduce the budget deficit too quickly could kill the recovery.

The latest economic indicators were mixed. The University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment fell to 82.7, slightly worse than expected, but Federal Reserve data showed U.S. factory output increased 0.1 percent in May after declining 0.4 percent in April. Overall industrial production was flat.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225, the regional heavyweight, gained 1.9 percent to close at 12,686.52, recovering some of its losses after a 6.4 percent plunge on Thursday.

Japanese markets have weakened following a burst of euphoria over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic turnaround plan. Markets had surged 50 percent since the start of the year but doubts are mounting about whether Abe's plan will work.

The Nikkei's plunge Thursday took the Japanese market to a 20 percent decline from its May 22 high ? the definition of a bear market.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 2,162.04, coming off its lowest close in six months following Thursday's 2.8 percent slide. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4 percent to 20,969.14 and Seoul added 0.4 percent to 1,889.24. India's Sensex rose 1.6 percent to 19,126.03.

Stephen Lewis, Chief Economist at Monument Securities said markets will remain anxious until the Federal Reserve meeting next Wednesday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to give more information about whether the Fed intends to "taper" or slow, its asset purchase program.

"The fear that Mr Bernanke and his colleagues will not taper... indeed dare not taper, may be as significant an element in the current market malaise as anxiety that they will," he said in a note.

He said if the Fed doesn't slow purchases, people will be worried the market's rise in the first part of the year isn't sustainable. But if it does slow purchases, the market is likely to continue its more recent slide.

"Either way, carefree days would be over," he said. "The market has realized it is difficult to write a happy ending to this story."

In currency markets, the euro declined to $1.3315 from $1.3345 late Thursday in New York. The dollar was down sharply against the yen, 1.2 percent weaker at 94.24 yen.

Benchmark oil for July delivery rose strongly, up 99 cents to $97.95, gaining on tension in the Mideast after U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to arm Syrian rebels.

_____

Associated Press Business Writer Joe McDonald contributed to this story from Beijing.

Toby Sterling is @lbsterling on Twitter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-stocks-mixed-asia-rebounds-165246242.html

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Saturday, June 15, 2013

AP IMPACT: Commander of Nazi-led unit lives in US

People walk past the home in Minneapolis, Minn., where 94-year-old Michael Karkoc lives, Friday, June 14, 2013. Karkoc, a top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children, lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press. He told American authorities in 1949 that he had performed no military service during World War II, concealing his work as an officer and founding member of the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion and later as an officer in the SS Galician Division, according to records obtained by the AP through a Freedom of Information Act request. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Richard Sennott) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT

In this May 22, 1990 photo, Michael Karkoc, photographed in Lauderdale, Minn. prior to a visit to Minnesota from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in early June of 1990. Karkoc a top commander whose Nazi SS-led unit is blamed for burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/The St. Paul Pioneer Press, Chris Polydoroff)

The June 3, 1944 photo provided by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum shows Heinrich Himmler, centre, SS Reichsfuehrer-SS, head of the Gestapo and the Waffen-SS, and Minister of the Interior of Nazi Germany from 1943 to 1945, as he reviews troops of the Galician SS-Volunteer Infantry Division Michael Karkoc a top commander whose Nazi SS-led unit is blamed for burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press. Michael Karkoc became a member of the Galician division after the Ukrainian Self Defense Legion was incorporated into it near the end of the war. (AP photo/ U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Atlantic Foto Verlag Berlin)

The photo taken June 3, 2013 in Chicago shows the oath of allegiance on Michael Karkoc's petition for naturalization obtained from the U.S. National Archives in Illinois. The petition was granted. Karkoc a top commander whose Nazi SS-led unit is blamed for burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

This undated reproduction shows a page of Michael Karkoc's 1949 U.S. Army intelligence file that AP had declassified by the U.S. National Archives in Maryland through a Freedom of Information Act request. Officials note in the document that Karkoc told them he performed no military service during the war; working for his father until 1944 and in a labor camp from 1944 to 45. Karkoc a top commander whose Nazi SS-led unit is blamed for burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press. (AP Photo)

BERLIN (AP) ? A top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States and has been living in Minnesota since shortly after World War II, according to evidence uncovered by The Associated Press.

Michael Karkoc, 94, told American authorities in 1949 that he had performed no military service during World War II, concealing his work as an officer and founding member of the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion and later as an officer in the SS Galician Division, according to records obtained by the AP through a Freedom of Information Act request. The Galician Division and a Ukrainian nationalist organization he served in were both on a secret American government blacklist of organizations whose members were forbidden from entering the United States at the time.

Though records do not show that Karkoc had a direct hand in war crimes, statements from men in his unit and other documentation confirm the Ukrainian company he commanded massacred civilians, and suggest that Karkoc was at the scene of these atrocities as the company leader. Nazi SS files say he and his unit were also involved in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, in which the Nazis brutally suppressed a Polish rebellion against German occupation.

Polish prosecutors announced Friday after the release of the AP investigation that they will investigate Karkoc and provide "every possible assistance" to the U.S. Department of Justice, which has used lies in immigration papers to deport dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals. The AP evidence of Karkoc's wartime activities has also prompted German authorities to express interest in exploring whether there is enough to prosecute.

Karkoc refused to discuss his wartime past at his home in Minneapolis, and repeated efforts to set up an interview, using his son as an intermediary, were unsuccessful.

Efraim Zuroff, the lead Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, said that based on his decades of experience pursuing Nazi war criminals, he expects that the evidence showing Karkoc lied to American officials and that his unit carried out atrocities is strong enough for deportation and war-crimes prosecution in Germany or Poland.

The deputy head of the German office that investigates Nazi war crimes, Thomas Will, said that based on the AP's evidence, he is interested in gathering information that could possibly result in prosecution.

Karkoc now lives in a modest house in northeast Minneapolis in an area with a significant Ukrainian population. Even at his advanced age, he came to the door without help of a cane or a walker. He would not comment on his wartime service for Nazi Germany.

"I don't think I can explain," he said.

Members of his unit and other witnesses have told stories of brutal attacks on civilians.

One of Karkoc's men, Vasyl Malazhenski, told Soviet investigators that in 1944 the unit was directed to "liquidate all the residents" of the village of Chlaniow, Poland, in a reprisal attack for the killing of a German SS officer, though he did not say who gave the order.

In a background check by U.S. officials on April 14, 1949, Karkoc said he had never performed any military service, telling investigators that he "worked for father until 1944. Worked in labor camp from 1944 until 1945."

However, in a Ukrainian-language memoir published in 1995, Karkoc states that he helped found the Ukrainian Self Defense Legion in 1943 in collaboration with the Nazis' feared SS intelligence agency, the SD, to fight on the side of Germany ? and served as a company commander in the unit, which received orders directly from the SS, through the end of the war.

The AP located a copy online in an electronic Ukrainian library.

Karkoc's name surfaced when a retired clinical pharmacologist who took up Nazi war crimes research in his free time came across it while looking into members of the SS Galician Division who emigrated to Britain. Stephen Ankier, who is based in London, tipped off AP when an Internet search showed an address for Karkoc in Minnesota.

The AP located Karkoc's U.S. Army intelligence file, and got it declassified by the National Archives in Maryland through a FOIA request. The file said standard background checks found no red flags that would disqualify him from entering the United States but noted that key information from the Soviet side was missing.

Wartime documents located by the AP also confirm Karkoc's membership in the Self Defense Legion. They include a Nazi payroll sheet found in Polish archives, signed by an SS officer on Jan. 8, 1945 ? only four months before the war's end ? confirming that Karkoc was present in Krakow, Poland, to collect his salary as a member of the Self Defense Legion. Karkoc signed the document.

Karkoc, an ethnic Ukrainian, was born in the city of Lutsk in 1919, according to details he provided American officials. At the time, the area was being fought over by Ukraine, Poland and others; it ended up part of Poland until World War II. Several wartime Nazi documents note the same birth date, but say he was born in Horodok, a town in the same region.

He joined the regular German army after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and fought on the Eastern Front in Ukraine and Russia.

He was also a member of the Ukrainian nationalist organization OUN; in 1943, he helped negotiate with the Nazis to have men drawn from its membership form the Self Defense Legion, according to his account. The legion eventually numbered some 600 soldiers and was folded into the SS Galician Division in 1945.

Policy at the time of Karkoc's immigration application ? according to a declassified secret U.S. government document obtained by the AP from the National Archives ? was to deny a visa to anyone who had served in either the SS Galician Division or the OUN.

In Washington, Justice Department spokesman Michael Passman said the agency was aware of the AP story but could neither confirm nor deny details of specific investigations as a matter of policy.

Though Karkoc talks in his memoirs about fighting anti-Nazi Polish resistance fighters, he makes no mention of attacks on civilians. He does indicate he was with his company in the summer of 1944 when the Self Defense Legion's commander, Siegfried Assmuss, was killed by a partisan attack near Chlaniow.

He did not mention the retaliatory massacre that followed, which was described in detail by Malazhenski in his 1967 statement. An SS administrative list obtained by AP shows that Karkoc was Malazhenski's commander.

Malazhenski said the Ukrainian unit was ordered to liquidate Chlaniow in reprisal for Assmuss' death, and moved in the next day, machine-gunning people and torching homes. More than 40 people died.

"The Ukrainians were setting fire to the buildings," Chlaniow villager Stanislawa Lipska told a communist-era commission in 1948. "You could hear machine-gun shots and grenade explosions. Shots could be heard inside the village and on the outskirts. They were making sure no one escaped."

Witness statements and other documentation also link the unit circumstantially to a 1943 massacre in Pidhaitsi, on the outskirts of Lutsk ?today part of Ukraine ? where the Self Defense Legion was once based. A total of 21 villagers, mostly women and children, were slaughtered.

Heorhiy Syvyi was a 9-year-old boy when troops swarmed into Pidhaitsi on Dec. 3 but managed to flee with his father and hide.

"When we came out we saw the smoldering ashes of the burned house and our neighbors searching for the dead. My mother had my brother clasped to her chest. This is how she was found ? black and burned," said Syvyi, now 78.

There is evidence that the unit took part in the brutal suppression of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, fighting the nationalist Polish Home Army as it sought to rid the city of its Nazi occupiers.

The uprising was put down by the Nazis in a house-to-house fight characterized by its ferocity.

The Self Defense Legion's exact role is not known, but Nazi documents indicate that Karkoc and his unit were there.

An SS payroll document, dated Oct. 12, 1944, says 10 members of the Self Defense Legion "fell while deployed to Warsaw." Karkoc is listed as the highest-ranking commander of 2 Company ? a lieutenant ? on a pay sheet.

Following the war, Karkoc ended up in a camp for displaced people in Neu Ulm, Germany, according to documents obtained from the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany. The documents indicate that his wife died in 1948, a year before he and their two young boys ? born in 1945 and 1946 ? emigrated to the U.S.

After he arrived in Minneapolis, he remarried and had four more children, the last born in 1966.

Karkoc told American officials he was a carpenter, and records indicate he worked for a nationwide construction company that has an office in Minneapolis.

A longtime member of the Ukrainian National Association, Karkoc has been closely involved in community affairs over the past decades and was identified in a 2002 article in a Ukrainian-American publication as a "longtime UNA activist."

___

Herschaft reported from New York and Scislowska from Warsaw; Doug Glass, Patrick Condon and Amy Forliti in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Maria Danilova in Kiev, Ukraine; Efrem Lukatsky in Pidhaitsi, and Svetlana Fedas in Lviv, Ukraine, contributed to this story.

___

David Rising can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/davidrising ; Randy Herschaft at http://www.twitter.com/HerschaftAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-14-Germany-US-Nazi%20Commander-ABRIDGED/id-3a4298d53fc44977b787448636044807

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Has a 'red line' in Syria been crossed?

There are good arguments to be made for the US directly arming Syria's rebels. But claims that nerve gas has been deployed in small quantities by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad aren't really among them.

The UN said yesterday morning that a minimum of 93,000 people have been killed since Syria's civil war began in March of 2011. Later in the day Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, put out a press release saying the US intelligence community is convinced that Assad "has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year."

He continued:

The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete. While the lethality of these attacks make up only a small portion of the catastrophic loss of life in Syria, which now stands at more than 90,000 deaths, the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades. We believe that the Assad regime maintains control of these weapons. We have no reliable, corroborated reporting to indicate that the opposition in Syria has acquired or used chemical weapons.

The body of information used to make this intelligence assessment includes reporting regarding Syrian officials planning and executing regime chemical weapons attacks; reporting that includes descriptions of the time, location, and means of attack; and descriptions of physiological symptoms that are consistent with exposure to a chemical weapons agent. Some open source reports from social media outlets from Syrian opposition groups and other media sources are consistent with the information we have obtained regarding chemical weapons use and exposure. The assessment is further supported by laboratory analysis of physiological samples obtained from a number of individuals, which revealed exposure to sarin.

Now, 150 - or 1,050 - people killed by chemical weapons, or any other means, is tragic. But 1,050 as a percentage of 93,000 is 1.1 percent of the death toll from the war (which has claimed many fighters for Assad and civilian supporters of his government as well as people siding with the rebellion). So if the human tragedy of the Syrian civil war wasn't sufficient cause for getting involved in the fight at this time last week, it's hard to see why it's sufficient as a result that sarin was allegedly used.

One way that it is different, of course, is that chemical weapons could possibly be used to kill large numbers of civilians in a short frame of time, as happened in the Iraqi Kurdistan village of Halabja in 1988, the last wide-scale use of chemical weapons, which claimed 5,000 lives. So the fear is that Assad has tested the waters on sarin use with very small attacks, and might consider wider deployment if there isn't an international reaction.

Perhaps. But it's also the case that of late the Syrian army has regrouped, and with the help of Lebanon's Hezbollah, has made strategic gains. With the rebels on the back foot, he has less incentive to risk using sarin or any other chemical weapons. If the US started supplying game changing weapons like anti-aircraft or anti-tank missiles that the rebels have craved, there's an argument to be made that he'd be more likely to use chemical weapons.

After all, the view of Assad and regime stalwarts is that they're in a truly existential battle: They can win or die, or, if they're lucky, live out their days as exiles from their homeland. The sectarian cast to much of the fighting -- the Alawite minority that Assad belongs to disproportionately supports his government -- also can't be ignored. Nor can the calls for jihad by leading Sunni preachers and the framing of war by other Sunni powers like the Muslim Brotherhood that now runs Egypt as a fight against Shiites, be ignored. (Iran is overwhelmingly Shiite and supports Assad; the Alawites are a long-ago offshoot of Shia Islam).

To be sure, Obama officials are saying that they're not going to provide serious weaponry to the rebellion, and the calculation in Washington appears to be a minor escalation to warn Assad off of further sarin use, without making him feel his back is to the wall. But it's also the case that "light" support of foreign insurgents has a way of morphing into wider entanglements, as US prestige and pride kick in.

Finally, it's worth remembering that the "red line" has in fact been a bit squiggly, though it has hardened over time.

The first "red line" set by Obama in August 2012 had enough holes in it to make an Emmental cheese maker proud. "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized," Obama said then, "That would change my calculus."

Since then, caveats like "a whole bunch" have been rarer, with chemical weapons use spoken of in generic terms, and without specific action threatened. For instance, in December of 2012 Obama's spokesman Jay Carney said that, "our promise of significant consequences" if Assad used chemical weapons were "extremely clear and stark," without explaining what those consequences would be.

Obama also took a tougher line on March 21: "I've made it clear to Bashar al-Assad and all who follow his orders: We will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people, or the transfer of those weapons to terrorists."

Well, for now, "won't tolerate" is translating as, "we'll give a little more assistance to the rebellion."

Full-scale US involvement in the conflict appears to remain a way off.

Has Obama chosen the best path this week? Only time will tell.

Read this story at csmonitor.com

Become a part of the Monitor community

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/red-line-syria-crossed-185930148.html

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Friday, June 14, 2013

Obama to step up military support of Syrian rebels

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama has authorized sending weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, U.S. officials said Thursday, after the White House disclosed that the United States has conclusive evidence President Bashar Assad's government used chemical weapons against opposition forces trying to overthrow him.

Obama has repeatedly said the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line" triggering greater American intervention in the two-year crisis.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the strongest proponents of U.S. military action in Syria, said he was told Thursday that Obama had decided to "provide arms to the rebels," a decision confirmed by three U.S. officials. The officials cautioned that no decisions had been made on the specific type of weaponry or when it would reach the Syrian rebels, who are under increasing assault from Assad's forces.

Still, the White House signaled that Obama did plan to step up U.S. involvement in the Syrian crisis in response to the chemical weapons disclosure.

"This is going to be different in both scope and scale in terms of what we are providing," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser.

The U.S. has so far provided the Syrian rebel army with rations and medical supplies.

Thursday's announcement followed a series of urgent meetings at the White House this week that revealed deep divisions within the administration over U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war. The proponents of more aggressive action ? including Secretary of State John Kerry ? appeared to have won out over those wary of sending weapons and ammunition into a war zone where Hezbollah and Iranian fighters are backing Assad's armed forces, and al-Qaida-linked extremists back the rebellion.

Obama still opposes putting American troops on the ground in Syria and the U.S. has made no decision on operating a no-fly zone over Syria, Rhodes said.

U.S. officials said the administration could provide the rebels with a range of weapons, including small arms, ammunition, assault rifles and a variety of anti-tank weaponry such as shoulder-fired remote-propelled grenades and other missiles. However, a final decision on the inventory has not been made, the officials said.

Most of those would be weapons the opposition forces could easily use and not require much additional training to operate. Obama's opposition to deploying American troops to Syria makes it difficult to provide much large-scale training. Other smaller- scale training can be done outside Syria's borders.

All of the officials insisted on anonymity in order to discuss internal administration discussions.

Word of the stepped up assistance followed new U.S. intelligence assessments showing that Assad has used chemical weapons, including sarin, on a small scale multiple times in the last year. Up to 150 people have been killed in those attacks, the White House said, constituting a small percentage of the 93,000 people killed in Syria over the last two years.

The White House said it believes Assad's regime still maintains control of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles and does not see any evidence that rebel forces have launched attacks using the deadly agents.

The Obama administration announced in April that it had "varying degrees of confidence" that sarin had been used in Syria. But they said at the time that they had not been able to determine who was responsible for deploying the gas.

The more conclusive findings announced Thursday were aided by evidence sent to the United States by France, which, along with Britain, has announced it had determined that Assad's government had used chemical weapons.

Obama has said repeatedly that the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line" and constitute a "game changer" for U.S. policy on Syria, which until now has focused entirely on providing the opposition with nonlethal assistance and humanitarian aid.

The White House said it had notified Congress, the United Nations and key international allies about the new U.S. chemical weapons determination. Obama will discuss the assessments, along with broader problems in Syria, next week during the G-8 summit in Northern Ireland.

Among those in attendance will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of Assad's most powerful backers. Obama and Putin will hold a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the summit, where the U.S. leader is expected to press his Russian counterpart to drop his political and military support for the Syrian government.

"We believe that Russia and all members of the international community should be concerned about the use of chemical weapons," Rhodes said.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said his country was "not surprised by the determination made by the U.S. government," given its own assessments, and was in consultation with the Americans about next steps.

The U.S. has so far provided the Syrian rebel army with rations and medical supplies. In April, Kerry announced that the administration had agreed in principle to expand its military support to the opposition to include defensive items like night vision goggles, body armor and armored vehicles.

The Syrian fighters have been clamoring for bolder Western intervention, particularly given the estimated 5,000 Hezbollah guerrillas propping up Assad's forces. Assad's stunning military success last week at Qusair, near the Lebanese border, and preparations for offensives against Homs and Aleppo have made the matter more urgent.

While McCain has pressed for a greater role for the U.S. military, other lawmakers have expressed reservations about American involvement in another conflict and fears that weapons sent to the rebels could fall into the hands of al-Qaida-linked groups.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemned the Assad regime but expressed serious concerns about the United States being pulled into a proxy war.

"There are many actions that the United States can take to increase our humanitarian assistance to refugee populations and opposition groups short of injecting more weapons into the conflict," Murphy said. "I urge the president to exercise restraint and to consult closely with Congress before undertaking any course of action to commit American military resources to Syrian opposition forces."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, also urged the White House to consult with Congress.

"It is long past time to bring the Assad regime's bloodshed in Syria to an end," he said through a spokesman, Brendan Buck. "As President Obama examines his options, it is our hope he will properly consult with Congress before taking any action."

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor, Donna Cassata, Andrew Taylor in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-step-military-support-syrian-rebels-233546868.html

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Nintendo sees Mario and Zelda giving Wii U a big boost, 3DS continuing to grow

There's no question that Nintendo is hurting these days, mostly owing to the lackluster reception for the Wii U. The company's Scott Moffitt is upbeat, however: he tells CNET that the Wii U should enjoy a 3DS-like sales renaissance this holiday now that games in bigger franchises, like Mario and Zelda, are on the way. Of course, the 3DS also had the advantage of a dramatic price drop -- but never you mind that. As for the handheld's own performance this year? Moffitt claims that the 3DS is the only dedicated console whose sales are still growing, and he expects the system to have its best holiday yet. His positions on the 3DS and Wii U strike us as optimistic when Nintendo is up against two major console launches and the ever-present threat of smartphone gaming, but the gaming giant has defied the odds more than once in its history.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Nintendo

Comments

Source: CNET

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

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Thursday, June 13, 2013

News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch files for divorce from wife Wendi

By Liana B. Baker

(Reuters) - News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from his wife Wendi, the company confirmed on Thursday, just days before News Corp. itself splits into two.

The reasons for the filing were not immediately clear, though a spokesman for Murdoch said the marriage had been irretrievably broken for more than six months. Murdoch, 82, married the former Wendi Deng, 44, in 1999.

The filing comes just days before the split of News Corp. into two companies, one for its entertainment assets and the other for its publishing business. Murdoch, who Forbes says is worth $9.4 billion, is to be chairman of both companies.

Analysts said the end of the Murdochs' marriage was unlikely to have an effect on the corporate split.

"I doubt it has a substantial impact on the spin," Gabelli & Co. analyst Brett Harriss said, referring to the News Corp. separation. "Given that it's his third wife, I see it unlikely that he didn't plan for this contingency."

A person familiar with the situation said Murdoch and Deng had a prenuptial agreement, though it was not clear which one would move out of the couple's Upper East Side apartment in New York City.

Murdoch and Deng have two young daughters, Grace and Chloe. Murdoch has four grown children, Prudence from his first marriage and Lachlan, James and Elisabeth from his second. News Corp. shares were unchanged in midday trading.

Ira Garr, an attorney listed as representing Murdoch, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

A few years ago, several news reports said that Deng had battled Murdoch's adult children to secure a voting position for her children in the family trust, which holds the Murdoch stake in News Corp., worth billions of dollars.

As it now stands, the two youngest girls do not have voting rights in the trust, though they do have an ownership stake.

INTERPRETER TO STAR

Wendi Deng, the daughter of a factory director in Guangzhou, China, came to the United States in 1988 after serving as an interpreter for a Los Angeles couple working in China.

She went on to get an MBA from Yale and landed a job at News Corp.'s Star TV as an intern in 1996. She met Murdoch in 1998 when she was a junior executive who acted as his interpreter during a business trip to China.

The pair married in 1999 after Murdoch divorced his wife of 31 years.

To many people outside the media industry, Deng is best known for a July 2011 incident in the British Parliament, where Rupert Murdoch was testifying about a phone-hacking scandal.

More than halfway through the hearing, Deng suddenly leapt from her seat to protect Murdoch from a prankster who had slipped through a packed committee room and tried in vain to smash a shaving cream pie into Murdoch's face.

Deng intercepted him with a furious slap.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba, Karen Freifeld and Nicola Leske; Writing by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/news-corps-rupert-murdoch-files-divorce-wife-wendi-163707539.html

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Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org: avast! Free for Education

For fun, I asked fellow school districts in San Antonio, Texas area ?how much they were paying for antivirus/anti-malware solutions...for large districts (42K students), $300K over 3 year period. I was surprised at how much they were paying! Many school districts combine this desktop protection tool with Fortigate to prevent malware intrusion. In this way, school computers are at less risk of contracting virus/malware because malware intrusion solutions protect them.?

Take computers home, though, and they risk catching whatever is out there and then bringing it into the District. The question is, will your desktop anti-virus/malware protection hold up against the bad stuff that students and staff may expose their hardware to?

Although I'd heard of avast! anti-malware solution, I had no idea that it was available at no charge?to educational institutions, such as K-12 school districts. Several of my colleagues mentioned it in Texas, and I was thrilled to see this information that was sent to me by avast! Free for EDU folks (thx, Stephanie!).?

The application process is quite simple and we were on our way quickly.

All public educational institutions in the US are eligible to use AVAST?s premium, business-grade avast! Endpoint Protection Suite at no cost. Each educational license includes two?central management?control options, which enables IT administrators to remotely manage antivirus protection on laptops, desktops and servers across any campus, large or small.
Two?central management?control options (with each educational license)

Protection for Windows endpoints

Protection for servers supporting 5?30,000 endpoint devices

Remote management for all supported devices on campus

Who is eligible
You must be a public or non-profit educational institution/organization (this includes grades K-12 and higher, vocational / trade schools, head start programs or other entities with educational purposes under 501(c) of the IRS Publication 557 - Organization Reference Chart section) or public library, operating in the United States (includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.?

How to apply
Review our?Eligibility and Participation Requirements?and then complete and submit the?application form. If you have questions about the application process, please email us at?edu@avast.com.

We are piloting avast! on Windows computers, as well as placing the Mac version on Macintosh computers. With Windows computers, there is a management console that allows you to easily install avast! on those computers remotely...that's right, no need to touch the machine. The Mac version isn't quite as far along, but if you have a remote desktop management system--such as JAMF's Casper Suite--then you can push it out without issue.

Here's some info from their press release:

The AVAST Free for Education program, which launched in November 2012, approaches the two-??million-??protected computers mark, freeing up about $20 million of US education budgets.

Six months since its launch, AVAST Free for Education covers nearly 2 million computers and servers belonging to over 1,400 schools, districts, universities, libraries, and other educational institutions. At market price, these institutions are saving $20 million per year by getting the AVAST enterprise-??level protection for free.

?By now we are protecting computers for about 7 million students,? said Vincent Steckler, Chief Executive Officer of AVAST Software. ?As the National Center for Education Statistics puts total US enrollment just over 75 million, we?re protecting roughly 10% of US students, which keeps us on track for the 30% market share we expect to have by the end of 2013.?

Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Source: http://www.mguhlin.org/2013/06/avast-free-for-education.html

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New kind of variable star discovered: Minute variations in brightness reveal whole new class of stars

June 12, 2013 ? The Swiss are justly famed for their craftsmanship when creating extremely precise pieces of technology. Now a Swiss team from the Geneva Observatory has achieved extraordinary precision using a comparatively small 1.2-metre telescope for an observing programme stretching over many years. They have discovered a new class of variable stars by measuring minute variations in stellar brightness.

The new results are based on regular measurements of the brightness of more than three thousand stars in the open star cluster NGC 3766* over a period of seven years. They reveal how 36 of the cluster's stars followed an unexpected pattern -- they had tiny regular variations in their brightness at the level of 0.1% of the stars' normal brightness. These variations had periods between about two and 20 hours. The stars are somewhat hotter and brighter than the Sun, but otherwise apparently unremarkable. The new class of variable stars is yet to be given a name.

This level of precision in the measurements is twice as good as that achieved by comparable studies from other telescopes -- and sufficient to reveal these tiny variations for the first time.

"We have reached this level of sensitivity thanks to the high quality of the observations, combined with a very careful analysis of the data," says Nami Mowlavi, leader of the research team, "but also because we have carried out an extensive observation programme that lasted for seven years. It probably wouldn't have been possible to get so much observing time on a bigger telescope."

Many stars are known as variable or pulsating stars, because their apparent brightness changes over time. How the brightness of these stars changes depends in complex ways on the properties of their interiors. This phenomenon has allowed the development of a whole branch of astrophysics called asteroseismology, where astronomers can "listen" to these stellar vibrations, in order to probe the physical properties of the stars and get to know more about their inner workings.

"The very existence of this new class of variable stars is a challenge to astrophysicists," says Sophie Saesen, another team member. "Current theoretical models predict that their light is not supposed to vary periodically at all, so our current efforts are focused on finding out more about the behaviour of this strange new type of star."

Although the cause of the variability remains unknown, there is a tantalising clue: some of the stars seem to be fast rotators. They spin at speeds that are more than half of their critical velocity, which is the threshold where stars become unstable and throw off material into space.

"In those conditions, the fast spin will have an important impact on their internal properties, but we are not able yet to adequately model their light variations," explains Mowlavi. "We hope our discovery will encourage specialists to address the issue in the hope of understanding the origin of these mysterious variations."

Notes

*This star cluster is one of several included in this major monitoring programme. NGC 3766 lies about 7000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur) and is estimated to be about 20 million years old.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/cIug60WAHkE/130612093718.htm

India's Apollo Tyres to buy Cooper Tire for $2.22B

FILE - In this May 2, 2007 file photo, Cooper tires are on display at Vermont Tire and Service Inc. in Montpelier, Vt. India's Apollo Tyres Ltd. is buying Ohio's Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. for about $2.22 billion, boosting its presence in North America and other key markets around the world. Apollo said Wednesday, June 12, 2013, that the combined company will be one of the world's largest tire makers, with a strong presence across four continents and combined 2012 sales of $6.6 billion. Their tire brands include Apollo, Cooper, Roadmaster and Vredestein.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot, file)

India's Apollo Tyres Ltd. is buying Ohio's Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. for about $2.22 billion, boosting its presence in North America and other key markets around the world.

Apollo said Wednesday that the combined company will be one of the world's largest tire makers, with a strong presence across four continents and combined 2012 sales of $6.6 billion.

Their tire brands include Apollo, Cooper, Roadmaster and Vredestein.

Under the terms of the deal, Cooper shareholders will receive $35 per share in cash. The price represents a 42 percent premium over Cooper's Tuesday closing stock price.

Cooper shares jumped $9.95, or 41 percent, to $34.52 in morning trading Wednesday.

Based on the company's 63.3 million outstanding shares, the deal is worth about $2.22 billion. The companies valued the sale at about $2.5 billion.

Apollo Chairman Onkar Kanwar said the combined company will be uniquely positioned to serve both large, established markets, such as the U.S. and Europe, as well as fast-growing markets such as India, China, Africa and Latin America.

Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper said the deal is in the best interests of its shareholders.

Apollo didn't say if any jobs would be eliminated as part of the sale, but said it expects Cooper to continue to operate out of its facilities around the world.

In addition, Cooper executives are expected to continue leading the company and Cooper will continue to recognize its labor union and honor the terms of contracts currently in effect. It also plans to generally maintain pay and benefit levels for non-union employees.

With a history dating back to 1914, Cooper currently employs nearly 13,000 people around the world and has manufacturing plants on three continents. Its brands include Cooper, Mastercraft, Dean, Starfire, Roadmaster and others.

Its 2012 revenue totaled $4.2 billion. Last month, the company said its first-quarter profit more than doubled to $56.1 million, as lower raw material and manufacturing costs more than offset a double-digit drop in sales stemming from lower global demand and tough economic conditions.

The company said at the time that it expected that weakness would continue through the current quarter and possibly beyond.

Apollo, founded in 1972, produces premium and mid-tier tires in a variety of brands including Apollo and Vredestein.

The sale, which remains subject to Cooper shareholder and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second half of this year. When that happens, Cooper will become a privately held company and cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-12-Apollo%20Tyres-Cooper%20Tire/id-31899322c03e4d34991827e3c80e4d96

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