China's Li seeks stronger economic ties with India

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Indian business leaders Tuesday that developing stronger economic ties between their two nations would have huge benefits for both sides.

Li spoke a day after holding meetings with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during which the two leaders played down a recent border dispute and stressed the aim of forging deeper cooperation.

Li told the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday that India and China were both enormous markets with incredible potential for growth.

"If every one of our combined 2.5 billion population would buy a new mobile phone, it would blow up the order lists of IT manufacturers and operators in the world," Li said.

He said the two nations' strengths complement each other, with India having an edge in information technology and software, while China is undergoing a rapid expansion in manufacturing and textiles.

China can also help India's drive to improve its infrastructure, he said.

"At present, we both face the heavy tasks of developing the economy, improving people's lives and reinvigorating the country. In seeking great neighborly relations and common development, we will not just benefit our own peoples but also create new opportunities for other Asian countries," he said.

Li and Singh had expressed hope they could increase their trade from $61.5 billion last year to $100 billion by 2015. But the current trade is heavily skewed in China's favor, and Li said he was willing to allow Indian products greater access to Chinese markets.

"I'm confident that we have the ability to mitigate the trade imbalance between our two countries. China never has the intention of pursuing a trade surplus," he said.

Li's trip to India, his first visit abroad since becoming premier, was part of an outreach mission by the new Chinese leadership to large emerging economies aimed at balancing Beijing's fraught ties with the United States.

He and Singh pledged Monday to work together for regional stability and economic growth and said they would try to resolve a lingering border dispute, which flared last month when India accused Chinese troops of crossing deep into Indian territory and setting up camp.

Both leaders said they agreed that preserving peace along the border was crucial to maintaining growth and asked mediators from both countries to work toward a framework for reaching a settlement. The two sides have held 15 rounds of fruitless border talks over the past decade.

Li stressed Tuesday that maintaining peace would help his nation focus on development at home.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-li-seeks-stronger-economic-ties-india-070843317.html

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The mammoth's lament: How cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change

May 20, 2013 ? Herds of wooly mammoths once shook Earth beneath their feet, sending humans scurrying across the landscape of prehistoric Ohio. But then something much larger shook Earth itself, and at that point these mega mammals' days were numbered.

Something -- global-scale combustion caused by a comet scraping our planet's atmosphere or a meteorite slamming into its surface -- scorched the air, melted bedrock and altered the course of Earth's history. Exactly what it was is unclear, but this event jump-started what Kenneth Tankersley, an assistant professor of anthropology and geology at the University of Cincinnati, calls the last gasp of the last ice age.

"Imagine living in a time when you look outside and there are elephants walking around in Cincinnati," Tankersley says. "But by the time you're at the end of your years, there are no more elephants. It happens within your lifetime."

Tankersley explains what he and a team of international researchers found may have caused this catastrophic event in Earth's history in their research, "Evidence for Deposition of 10 Million Tonnes of Impact Spherules Across Four Continents 12,800 Years Ago," which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This research might indicate that it wasn't the cosmic collision that extinguished the mammoths and other species, Tankersley says, but the drastic change to their environment.

"The climate changed rapidly and profoundly. And coinciding with this very rapid global climate change was mass extinctions."

Putting a Finger On the End of the Ice Age

Tankersley is an archaeological geologist. He uses geological techniques, in the field and laboratory, to solve archaeological questions. He's found a treasure trove of answers to some of those questions in Sheriden Cave in Wyandot County, Ohio. It's in that spot, 100 feet below the surface, where Tankersley has been studying geological layers that date to the Younger Dryas time period, about 13,000 years ago.

About 12,000 years before the Younger Dryas, Earth was at the Last Glacial Maximum -- the peak of the Ice Age. Millennia passed, and the climate began to warm. Then something happened that caused temperatures to suddenly reverse course, bringing about a century's worth of near-glacial climate that marked the start of the geologically brief Younger Dryas.

There are only about 20 archaeological sites in the world that date to this time period and only 12 in the United States -- including Sheriden Cave.

"There aren't many places on the planet where you can actually put your finger on the end of the last ice age, and Sheriden Cave is one of those rare places where you can do that," Tankersley says.

Rock-Solid Evidence of Cosmic Calamity

In studying this layer, Tankersley found ample evidence to support the theory that something came close enough to Earth to melt rock and produce other interesting geological phenomena. Foremost among the findings were carbon spherules. These tiny bits of carbon are formed when substances are burned at very high temperatures. The spherules exhibit characteristics that indicate their origin, whether that's from burning coal, lightning strikes, forest fires or something more extreme. Tankersley says the ones in his study could only have been formed from the combustion of rock.

The spherules also were found at 17 other sites across four continents -- an estimated 10 million metric tons' worth -- further supporting the idea that whatever changed Earth did so on a massive scale. It's unlikely that a wildfire or thunderstorm would leave a geological calling card that immense -- covering about 50 million square kilometers.

"We know something came close enough to Earth and it was hot enough that it melted rock -- that's what these carbon spherules are. In order to create this type of evidence that we see around the world, it was big," Tankersley says, contrasting the effects of an event so massive with the 1883 volcanic explosion on Krakatoa in Indonesia. "When Krakatoa blew its stack, Cincinnati had no summer. Imagine winter all year-round. That's just one little volcano blowing its top."

Other important findings include:

• Micrometeorites: smaller pieces of meteorites or particles of cosmic dust that have made contact with Earth's surface.
• Nanodiamonds: microscopic diamonds formed when a carbon source is subjected to an extreme impact, often found in meteorite craters.
• Lonsdaleite: a rare type of diamond, also called a hexagonal diamond, only found in non-terrestrial areas such as meteorite craters.

Three Choices at the Crossroads of Oblivion

Tankersley says while the cosmic strike had an immediate and deadly effect, the long-term side effects were far more devastating -- similar to Krakatoa's aftermath but many times worse -- making it unique in modern human history.

In the cataclysm's wake, toxic gas poisoned the air and clouded the sky, causing temperatures to plummet. The roiling climate challenged the existence of plant and animal populations, and it produced what Tankersley has classified as "winners" and "losers" of the Younger Dryas. He says inhabitants of this time period had three choices: relocate to another environment where they could make a similar living; downsize or adjust their way of living to fit the current surroundings; or swiftly go extinct. "Winners" chose one of the first two options while "losers," such as the wooly mammoth, took the last.

"Whatever this was, it did not cause the extinctions," Tankersley says. "Rather, this likely caused climate change. And climate change forced this scenario: You can move, downsize or you can go extinct."

Humans at the time were just as resourceful and intelligent as we are today. If you transported a teenager from 13,000 years ago into the 21st century and gave her jeans, a T-shirt and a Facebook account, she'd blend right in on any college campus. Back in the Younger Dryas, with mammoth off the dinner table, humans were forced to adapt -- which they did to great success.

Weather Report: Cloudy With a Chance of Extinction

That lesson in survivability is one that Tankersley applies to humankind today.

"Whether we want to admit it or not, we're living right now in a period of very rapid and profound global climate change. We're also living in a time of mass extinction," Tankersley says. "So I would argue that a lot of the lessons for surviving climate change are actually in the past."

He says it's important to consider a sustainable livelihood. Humans of the Younger Dryas were hunter-gatherers. When catastrophe struck, these humans found news ways and new places to hunt game and gather wild plants. Evidence found in Sheriden Cave shows that most of the plants and animals living there also endured. Of the 70 species known to have lived there before the Younger Dryas, 68 were found there afterward. The two that didn't make it were the giant beaver and the flat-headed peccary, a sharp-toothed pig the size of a black bear.

Tankersley also cautions that the possibility of another massive cosmic event should not be ignored. Like earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes, these types of natural disasters do happen, and as history has shown, it can be to devastating effect.

"One additional catastrophic change that we often fail to think about -- and it's beyond our control -- is something from outer space," Tankersley says. "It's a reminder of how fragile we are. Imagine an explosion that happened today that went across four continents. The human species would go on. But it would be different. It would be a game changer."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/CrKBzcGWijc/130520185524.htm

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We want your UFC 160 picks

UFC 160 is Saturday in Las Vegas, and we want to know how you think it will go down. Give us your picks and we'll run some of them here on Cagewriter. Here's how to do it. Check out the Cagewriter Facebook page to vote on a winner. Tell us why you think your pick will win in the comments of the poll, and some picks will run here on Friday. Click on each fight for its poll:

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva
Junior dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt
James Te Huna vs. Glover Teixeira
T.J. Grant vs. Gray Maynard
Donald Cerrone vs. KJ Noons

As the poet Pitbull said, let's have a real good time.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/want-ufc-160-picks-115201771.html

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Acrobotics Wants To Kickstart Smarter Cities With Its Smart Citizen Environment Sensors

There's plenty of buzz about the concept of making our cities "smarter" -- that is, loading them up with sensors and data-driven services to improve efficiency and quality of life. Hell, even Google has taken to loading up its event venues with scores of sensors. Most of the discussion out there deals with how local governments are working toward this lofty, nebulous goal, but a team called Acrobotics Industries is trying to put with onus on the citizens themselves. To that end the team has kicked off a $50,000 Kickstarter campaign for a small sensor array called the Smart Citizen kit in hopes that people will start collecting and sharing their environmental data with the world.

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

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Seth MacFarlane won't return as 2014 Oscar host

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Seth MacFarlane is too busy to host the Oscars in 2014.

The multitalented comedian says on Twitter that he "tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep."

MacFarlane said in his tweet Monday that Academy Awards producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are among the best in the business. Zadan and Meron produced this year's Oscar show, which earned higher ratings among coveted younger viewers, and will be returning for the 2014 telecast.

MacFarlane earned mixed reviews for his first outing as Oscar host in February, with some finding his material sexist and anti-Semitic.

The creator of "Family Guy" suggested Oscar producers tap the eccentric actor Joaquin Phoenix to host the show.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seth-macfarlane-wont-return-2014-oscar-host-194238644.html

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Wave of attacks kills dozens in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A wave of attacks killed at least 95 people in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq on Monday, officials said, pushing the death toll over the past week to more than 240 and extending one of the most sustained bouts of sectarian violence the country has seen in years.

The bloodshed is still far shy of the pace, scale and brutality of the dark days of 2006-2007, when Sunni and Shiite militias carried out retaliatory attacks against each other in a cycle of violence that left the country awash in blood. Still, Monday's attacks, some of which hit markets and crowded bus stops during the morning rush hour, have heightened fears that the country could be turning back down the path toward civil war.

Sectarian tensions have been worsening since Iraq's minority Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government. The mass demonstrations, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23.

Iraq's Shiite majority, which was oppressed under the late dictator Saddam Hussein, now holds the levers of power in the country. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks.

But the renewed violence in both Shiite and Sunni areas since late last month has fueled concerns of a return to sectarian warfare. Monday marked the deadliest day in Iraq in more than 20 months, and raised the nationwide death toll since last Wednesday alone to more than 240 people, according to an AP count.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused militant groups of trying to exploit Iraq's political instability to exacerbate sectarian tensions at home, and blamed the recent spike in violence on the wider unrest in the region, particularly in neighboring Syria. At the same time, he pledged Monday that insurgents "will not be able to bring back the atmosphere of the sectarian war."

Many Sunnis here contend that much of the country's current turmoil is rooted in decisions made by al-Maliki's government, saying his administration planted the seeds for more sectarian tension by becoming more aggressive toward Sunnis after the U.S. military withdrawal in December 2011.

The worst of Monday's violence took place in Baghdad, where 10 car bombs ripped through open-air markets and other areas of Shiite neighborhoods, killing at least 48 people and wounding more than 150, police officials said. In the bloodiest attack, a parked car bomb blew up in a busy market in the northern Shiite neighborhood of Shaab, killing 14 and wounding 24, police and health officials said.

The surge in bloodshed has exasperated Iraqis, who have lived for years with the fear and uncertainty bred of random violence.

"How long do we have to continue living like this, with all the lies from the government?" asked 23-year-old Baghdad resident Malik Ibrahim. "Whenever they say they have reached a solution, the bombings come back stronger than before."

"We're fed up with them and we can't tolerate this anymore," he added.

The predominantly Shiite city of Basra in southern Iraq was also hit Monday, with two car bombs there ? one outside a restaurant and another at the city's main bus station ? killing at least 13 and wounded 40, according to provincial police spokesman Col. Abdul-Karim al-Zaidi and the head of city's health directorate, Riadh Abdul-Amir.

A parked car bomb later struck Shiite worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in the southern city of Hillah, killing nine and wounding 26, according to police and health officials said.

In the town of Balad, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded next to a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims, killing 13 Iranians and one Iraqi, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but the fact that they all occurred in Shiite areas raised the suspicion that Sunni militants were involved. Also, Sunni insurgents, particularly al-Qaida in Iraq, are known to employ such large-scale bombings.

Monday's violence also struck Sunni areas, hitting the city of Samarra north of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar, a Sunni stronghold and the birthplace of the protest movement.

A parked car bomb in Samarra went off near a gathering of pro-government Sunni militia who were waiting outside a military base to receive salaries, killing three and wounding 13, while in Anbar gunmen ambushed two police patrols near the town of Haditha, killing eight policemen, police and army officials said.

Also in Anbar, authorities found 13 bodies dumped in a remote desert area, officials said. The bodies, which included eight policemen who were kidnapped by gunmen on Friday, had been killed with a gunshot to the head.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

___

Associated Press writer Nabil Al-Jurani in Basra contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wave-attacks-kills-least-95-iraq-195015667.html

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Ellen Slams Abercrombie: Fitch, Please!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/ellen-slams-abercrombie-fitch-please/

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Google's Field Trip app granting free admission to 13 museums

While Mountain View's Field Trip app may find attractions off the beaten path, footing the bill for excursions has been up to users. Now, however, the Niantic Labs-made application is handing out freebies for an unspecified limited time, allowing those who wield it to waltz into 13 museums for free. Folks near the establishments will receive Free Entry cards in the "nearby" tab, which will let them pass turnstiles without forking over a dime. Although Field Trip has been beefed up with points of interest in over 80 countries, the participating institutions -- which range from The Field Museum to the Walt Disney Family Museum -- are all located in six US cities. Head past the break for the full list.

Filed under: Software, Mobile, Google

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Tea party looks to take advantage of moment

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Is the tea party getting its groove back? Shouts of vindication from around the country suggest the movement's leaders certainly think so.

They say the IRS acknowledgement that it had targeted their groups for extra scrutiny ? a claim that tea party activists had made for years ? is helping pump new energy into the coalition. And they are trying to use that development, along with the ongoing controversy over the Benghazi, Libya, terrorist attacks and the Justice Department's secret seizure of journalists' phone records, to recruit new activists incensed about government overreach.

"This is the defining moment to say 'I told you so,' " said Katrina Pierson, a Dallas-based tea party leader, who traveled to Washington last week as the three political headaches for President Barack Obama unfolded.

Luke Rogonjich, a tea party leader in Phoenix, called the trio of controversies a powerful confluence that bolsters the GOP's case against big government. "Suddenly, there are a lot of things pressing on the dam," said Rogonjich.

It's unclear whether a movement made up of disparate grassroots groups with no central body can take advantage of the moment and leverage it to grow stronger after a sub-par showing in last fall's election had called into question the movement's lasting impact. Republicans and Democrats alike say the tea party runs the risk of going too far in its criticism, which could once again open the door to Democratic efforts to paint it as an extreme arm of the GOP.

"Never underestimate the tea party's ability to overplay its hand," said Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee. "Just because there is universal agreement that the IRS went too far, that should not be misread as acceptance of the tea party's ideology of anger."

At the very least, furor over the IRS in particular is giving the tea party more visibility than it has had in months, and it's providing a new rallying cry for tea party organizers starting to plot how to influence the 2014 congressional elections.

The tax-agency scandal ? it has led to the acting IRS commissioner's ouster, a criminal investigation and Capitol Hill hearings ? seems to validate the tea party's long-held belief among supporters that government was trampling on them specifically, a claim dismissed by ousted commissioner Steven T. Miller. He has called the targeting "a mistake and not an act of partisanship."

Nevertheless, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., elected in 2010 with tea party backing, said the IRS scandal "confirms many of the feelings that led to the tea party movement in the first place."

"What's happened here is a reminder of, this is what happens when you expand government," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That and the disaster that is Obamacare is going to be a real catalyst in 2014 and beyond."

Tea party activists hope they also can drive support ahead of the elections by stoking widespread suspicions that the Obama administration and State Department are hiding key details about the September 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The seizure of Associated Press phone records also plays into their argument that government is too intrusive.

Tea party activists have tried to take advantage of the issues that have put some of their central tenets ? limited government and civil liberties ? in the spotlight.

From around the country last week, they headed Washington to hold a news conference on the Capitol steps and meet with members of Congress. Those who stayed home jammed House and Senate phone lines with calls urging congressional action as the IRS saga unfolded. An email from Teaparty.org that was sent to activists proclaimed: "We've worked so hard these past few years and it's paying off! We're witnessing the unraveling of a presidency at an unprecedented rate."

Freedomworks, a national tea party group, spent the week circulating petitions for congressional hearings and encouraging leaders of local groups who believe they have been targeted by the IRS to include their story on a national database to build the case against the agency.

"Perhaps all this attention will break something loose," said Jim Chiodo, an activist from Holland, Mich.

It wasn't long ago that the tea party was the hot new political kid on the block, bursting onto the national scene during the contentious summer debate over health care in 2009. Over the next few years, the loosely affiliated conservatives and civil libertarians would leave their mark on the 2010 elections by helping Republican candidates win Senate races in Florida, Kentucky, Utah and Wisconsin and scores of House races.

Those victories resulted in House and Senate Republican caucuses getting pushed to the right in legislative battles, making life difficult for Obama and his Democrats in an era of divided government.

But the movement's success was muted in 2012 when Republicans nominated the establishment-backed Mitt Romney for president, though he did little to inspire the tea party. He lost, and so did many tea party-backed House and Senate candidates.

Now, tea party activists say they are emboldened and won't be afraid to recruit candidates to run in Republican primaries against incumbents who appear to go easy on the Obama administration, particularly in light of the IRS scandal.

"It's one of those issues we should just raise hell about," said Nashville Tea Party leader Ben Cunningham.

Some say they're now even more suspicious of government than before.

"I personally feel so vindicated," said Mark Falzon, a New Jersey tea party leader. But he added: "What's scaring me now is what's going on below the water line that we're not seeing."

Republicans say that the tea party will have an opportunity come 2014 to make its mark again, particularly with Obama not at the top of the ticket. Also, they say that with Obama's health care law going into effect and with the slew of latest controversies, they now have concrete issues to point to when arguing against government overreach.

"Suddenly, this is a very real demonstration of too much power ceded to government bureaucrats," said Matt Kibbe, president of Freedomworks. "This is no longer theoretical."

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Boston and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Follow Thomas Beaumont on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Tom_Beaumont

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-looks-advantage-moment-131144429.html

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Commercial ? Somerville, MA 02144 is now new to the market ...

Source: http://www.benoitrealestate.com/blog/commercial-somerville-ma-02144-is-now-new-to-the-market

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Residents capture amazing videos in the face of tornadoes

A series of 16 violent tornadoes ransacked north Texas this week, killing six people and flattening entire neighborhoods. Seven people who were reported missing early Friday morning have now been accounted for, but the storms aren't over yet.

Severe thunderstorms were brewing in Alabama and Mississippi, and the Plains and the Midwest face threats of even more tornadoes this weekend, according the Weather Channel.

Some residents and daredevil storm chasers captured amazing footage as twisters plowed through Texas. We've rounded up some of the best videos.

A resident in Granbury, Texas took this video Wednesday as a tornado pounded the area just on the other side of Lake Granbury.

Tornado chaser Jason Cooley shot this footage Wednesday of a tornado that slammed into cities near Dallas. "We gotta go," says one woman in the video as the twister approaches. Later in the video, a man says, "We were just in a tornado."

One Texas resident captured a hail storm as it pounded DeCordova, Texas just before a major tornado hit Granbury, Texas on Wednesday.

Amy Castaneda created this Vine showing the size of the hail that pummeled Grandbury, Texas on Wednesday. The large hail damaged homes and injured residents. (Click image to view the Vine)

These images capture the destruction in the wake of the multiple tornadoes that tore through Texas.
Click image to see more photos of the damage. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox)

Click here to follow Torrey on Twitter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/residents-capture-amazing-videos-face-tornadoes-005322352.html

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Zynga Tells CupidWithFriends To Stop Using ?With Friends'

Zynga has apparently told the makers of the dating website CupidWithFriends that they need to change the site's name, because it allegedly infringes on Zynga's trademarks. CupidWithFriends was built by the startup Apartment 7 (which also released the dating apps Flock and Wednesday Night). The site launched a couple of months ago, allowing users to build and edit dating profiles for their friends.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/c13zu-qN2Kc/

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BBM app for iOS and Android won't run on tablets at first

Tablet users eager to hop on the BBM bandwagon with BlackBerry's standalone app will have to tamper down their enthusiasm. Vivek Bhardwaj, head of the BlackBerry Software Portfolio, told TrustedReviews that the company will focus exclusively on smartphones running iOS 6 and Android 4.0 or above for this summer's launch. "Smartphone is our real focus and again it comes back to what BBM is. If you look [at] BBM and the engagement and the activity, it's because it is mobile, because people are on the go," Bhardwaj said. Meaning, iPad owners will be bereft of a tablet-supported BBM app until BlackBerry sees fit to develop one. There might still be hope for BBM on larger screens at some point, though. Perhaps hinting at BlackBerry's plans for the future, Bhardwaj said, "I think when you look at things like Smart TVs and desktops, those are definitely areas for exploration."

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software, Mobile, Blackberry

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North Texas Hit Hard By Deadly Tornadoes

TREVISO, Italy, May 16 (Reuters) - Britain's Mark Cavendish won stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia, his third victory of the 2013 race while compatriot and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins lost time on the overall contenders. Second in the bunch sprint in the rain soaked stage was France's Nacer Bouhanni, with Slovenian Luka Mezgec in third. Italy's Vincenzo Nibali remains the race's overall leader, Wiggins, previously fourth, lost contact with the main group in the final hour and lost an estimated three minutes. The Giro d'Italia finishes on May 26 in Brescia. (Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-texas-hit-hard-deadly-tornadoes-120343618.html

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Obama's Scandal Pivot: Dare Congress to Actually Pass Laws

The main thrust of all of President Obama's press conferences for the last two years has been to dare Congress to pass laws, and that held true on Thursday, when he answered questions at the White House about the administration's scandal trio by repeatedly saying he was looking forward to "fixing a problem" by working with Congress to pass laws he's wanted all along. On Benghazi? Obama said he wanted to increase intelligence to alert diplomatic posts of possible threats and make sure "our military can respond lightning quick in times of crisis." But, he warned, "We can't do this alone ? we're gonna need Congress as a partner." On the IRS? Obama said he was "looking forward to working with Congress to fully investigate what happened... and also look at some of the laws that create a bunch of ambiguity in which the IRS might not have enough guidance." On the Justice Department's obtaining Associated Press phone records? Obama said of a reporter shield law that it might be time to "revisit that legislation."

RELATED: Obama's Second Term Isn't Dead Yet

Obama asked that Congress "support and fully fund our budget request" for diplomatic security and increase the number of Marines guarding embassies. "That's how we learn the lessons of Benghazi," Obama said, after saying for months ? most recently on Monday ? that the Republican obsession with Benghazi was just about scoring political points.?And as The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler has explained, both Democratic and Republican congresses have given the State Department less money for security than it requested. The gap was only "a bit higher" in the recent Republican congresses.

RELATED: Obama Talks Turkey About the IRS, Syria, Benghazi, the AP Leaks

In the face of Republican opposition, Obama has increasingly used executive order to get things done ? on?guns,?immigration,?government data, and more. He's been pretty open about the futility of working with the GOP.?In a March?press conference about the failure to stop the sequester, Obama said, "I mean, Jessica,?I am not a dictator. I'm the President." He?dismissed the idea that "I should somehow do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what's right." His many press conferences about gun control dared Congress to pass background check legislation that 90 percent of Americans supported. Earlier this month, Obama explained how he was trying to get House Republicans to vote for his agenda: "We're going to try to do everything we can to create a permission structure for them to be able to do what's going to be best for the country."?"Permission structure" seems to be?a favorite term of Obama aides?? press secretary Jay Carney said it was "in common usage" around the White House. Maybe Obama's team thinks it's finally figured out the right permission structure to get House Republicans to work with them ? by letting the GOP say they're responding to a trio of Nixon-level scandals. As Obama himself said on Thursday about the Nixon comparisons:?"You can go ahead and read the history, and draw your own conclusions."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-scandal-pivot-dare-congress-actually-pass-laws-183925604.html

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iPhone 5S component leaks show updated vibrator assembly and more

While we most likely expect the iPhone 5S to carry the same exterior form factor as the iPhone 5, we'll most likely see lots of internal updates like we do with all "S" iterations. BGR has gotten ahold of some components that may confirm updates to the vibrator assembly, earpiece and speaker brackets, and more.

Taking a look at the images of the components leaked to BGR, major updates could be made to the vibrator assembly, earpiece and loud speaker brackets, the SIM tray, and more. The photo above is a photo of the vibrator assembly and component cable running to it which purportedly will surface in the iPhone 5S. The photo pictured below shows the current vibrator component cable and motor that is found in the iPhone 5.

Apple made the switch from a rotational vibrator motor in the iPhone 4S back to a linear motor in the iPhone 5 which was an odd choice. Rotational motors are typically a lot smoother and have less problems. The vibrator motor in the GSM variant of the iPhone 4 had a linear motor and typically saw more issues than the rotational variant found in the CDMA 4 and the iPhone 4S. This switch back was probably made in the iPhone 5 in order to conserve on space.

It looks as if the next generation iPhone will still feature a linear vibrational motor but with an overhaul and better design. This isn't surprising as the iPhone 5 has suffered vibrator issues. In my experience with AnoStyle and according to iMore's sources within Apple, the current vibrator assembly in the iPhone 5 can be sketchy at best when it comes to performance. If the cable isn't secured just right with the contacts laying on top of it, it produces a weak and/or sporadic vibration pattern. Securing the assembly to the actual cable would make sense and most likely solve a lot of the issues users are experiencing with the iPhone 5.

The other changes such as the loud speaker and earpiece brackets aren't surprising as shields and brackets typically do see revisions every year to some extent. Currently the iPhone 5 earpiece speaker is attached to the display assembly. While there haven't been many issues reported to iMore, it does take up quite a bit of space and could be changed to make room to accommodate other revised components.

The SIM tray doesn't appear to take a different sized SIM card but is shallower which could indicate that the contacts on the board have moved slightly, which isn't all that surprising with revised components and internal hardware. You can hit the link below to view all the components BGR managed to snag photos of.

Overall, it appears that Apple is minimizing the amount of space component cables need to occupy. The WiFi flex has shrunk as well as many of the other brackets and components. This begs the question, what is Apple making space for?

Source: BGR

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ndsRETodalQ/story01.htm

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'Vampire Diaries' star understands fans passion

Ian Somerhalder, from "The Vampire Diaries," attends the CW Upfront on Thursday, May 16, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Ian Somerhalder, from "The Vampire Diaries," attends the CW Upfront on Thursday, May 16, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) ? "The Vampire Diaries" is known for its twists and turns, and one of its stars, Ian Somerhalder, says Thursday night's season finale won't be any different.

"Elena's gonna make a big decision," teased the 34-year-old actor at CW's presentation of its programming for next season. He couldn't elaborate on what decision or decisions would be made.

The series is set in a fictional Virginia town where vampires, werewolves and witches live among humans (though not exactly peacefully). At the heart of the series is a love triangle among vampire brothers Damon (Somerhalder) and Stefan (Paul Wesley), who both love Elena (Nina Dobrev).

The show, which has been on the air since 2009, has a passionate fan following, and Somerhalder said Thursday that he feels that investment almost everywhere he goes.

"I was in Toronto yesterday and people were coming up to me, men, women, children, literally some of them in tears, bludgeoning me with what's gonna happen (on the show). ... People are very, very affected. I'm very curious to see what the reaction is (to the season finale)."

Somerhalder's character struck a particular chord with viewers. Introduced as an antagonistic vampire, he's softened some over the years, largely due to his love for Elena.

Initially, he wasn't sure about Damon losing some of his edge.

"Damon has to care about something sometimes, and I always wanted to stay the bad guy, and (series co-creator) Kevin Williamson had to pound it into my head that we didn't want Damon to be a one-trick pony. I disagreed, but over time I realized (the writers) were right and you need a layered, dynamic character," Somerhalder said.

"The Vampire Diaries" has a spinoff series, "The Originals," that will air on Tuesdays beginning this fall.

___

Online:

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries

http://www.isfoundation.com/

___

Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-16-US-People-Ian-Somerhalder/id-f431630aa4ff43a0beb471d0b542c0ae

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World's biggest ice sheets likely more stable than previously believed

May 16, 2013 ? For decades, scientists have used ancient shorelines to predict the stability of today's largest ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Markings of a high shoreline from three million years ago, for example -- when Earth was going through a warm period -- were thought to be evidence of a high sea level due to ice sheet collapse at that time. This assumption has led many scientists to think that if the world's largest ice sheets collapsed in the past, then they may do just the same in our modern, progressively warming world.

However, a new groundbreaking study now challenges this thinking.

Using the east coast of the United States as their laboratory, a research team led by David Rowley, CIFAR Senior Fellow and professor at the University of Chicago, has found that Earth's hot mantle pushed up segments of ancient shorelines over millions of years, making them appear higher now than they originally were millions of years ago.

"Our findings suggest that the previous connections scientists made between ancient shoreline height and ice volumes are erroneous and that perhaps our ice sheets were more stable in the past than we originally thought," says Rowley. "Our study is telling scientists that they can no longer ignore the effect of Earth's interior dynamics when predicting historic sea levels and ice volumes."

The study, published online in Science on May 16, was a collaboration that included CIFAR Senior Fellows Alessandro Forte (Universit? du Qu?bec ? Montr?al) and Jerry Mitrovica (Harvard), and a former CIFAR-supported post-doctoral fellow Rob Moucha (Syracuse).

"This study was the culmination of years of work and deep collaboration by researchers in CIFAR's program in Earth System Evolution," explains Rowley. "For this study, each of us brought our individual expertise to the table: Rob and Alex worked on simulations of Earth's mantle dynamics, Jerry provided calculations on how glaciers warp Earth's surface, and I shaped our understanding of the geology of the landscape we were looking at. This study would not have been possible without CIFAR."

The team studied the coast from Virginia to Florida, which has an ancient scarp tens of metres above present-day sea level. Until now, many research groups have studied this shoreline and concluded that during a warm period three million years ago, the Greenland, West Antarctic and a fraction of East Antarctic ice sheets collapsed, raising the sea level at least 35 metres. But the new findings by Rowley and his team suggest that these ice sheets, particularly the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (the world's largest), were probably more stable.

To do their study, the team used computer simulations to follow the movement of mantle and tectonic plates that occurred over time. Their prediction of how the ancient shoreline would have developed over millions of years matched what geologists mapping this ancient coast have observed. The next steps for the team are to try to make accurate predictions in other locations around the world.

"The paper is important because it shows that no prediction of ancient ice volumes can ever again ignore the Earth's interior dynamics," explains Rowley. "It also provides a novel bridge between two disciplines in Earth science that rarely intersect: mantle dynamics and long-term climate. It is the kind of study that changes how people think about our past climate and what our future holds."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/dVWuDCuRO8U/130516142551.htm

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Nokia announces Smart Camera app for the Lumia 925 (video)

Here at the Nokia event in London, we've seen the Lumia 925 go from rumor to reality, and now we're hearing more about the camera software debuting on the handset. For starters, the app has improved low-light performance and noise reduction, and will burst capture at 5-megapixels, with the full 8.7-megapixels available in single-shooting mode. Sports shooters will get Action Shot, which combines several images for a slow-mo effect, and Best Shot will let you (or the camera) choose one of 10 frames that gives the best overall image. Motion focus will add a blur effect to the background while keeping moving objects in focus, with the option to adjust the level of blur later.

Burst shooting also gives the ability to selectively choose the most (or least) hammy expressions on your subjects and finally, there's an option that lets you delete moving objects that might be in the way of your subject, as shown above. Nokia announced that Smart Camera won't just be limited to the Lumia 925 either, as all of the Finnish company's Windows 8 Phone devices will get it through Nokia's Lumia Amber firmware update, arriving sometime this summer. If none of that works for you, there's always Hipstamatic -- also just trumpeted for Windows Phone 8 at the Catwalk event. For more about Smart Camera, head after the break for videos detailing the new features.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/nZk6fi1sXlg/

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Sanctions hinder North Korea's atom bomb work

By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Increasingly tough financial sanctions, an arms embargo and other international restrictions on trade with North Korea have significantly delayed expansion of Pyongyang's illicit nuclear arms program, according to a confidential report by a U.N. panel of experts seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The latest annual report by the U.N. sanctions-monitoring group comes as the United States seeks to persuade China that applying economic and other sanctions against its neighbor is crucial to halting the program.

"While the imposition of sanctions has not halted the development of nuclear and ballistic missile programs, it has in all likelihood considerably delayed (North Korea's) timetable and, through the imposition of financial sanctions and the bans on the trade in weapons, has choked off significant funding which would have been channeled into its prohibited activities," the 52-page report said.

The document covers the period up through last month, diplomats said, so it was too early to measure the effect the latest round of U.N. sanctions adopted in March.

In the report to the U.N. Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee, the panel also recommended sanctioning three North Korean entities and 12 individuals. It will be up to the 15-nation council whether or not it follows the recommendations.

The three entities the panel said should be blacklisted are the newly created Ministry of Atomic Energy Industry, the Munitions Industry Department of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party (KWP), and the State Space Development Bureau.

The individuals the panel wants sanctioned include the atomic energy industry minister, once he is nominated, and four senior officials at the KWP Munitions Industry Department.

It also recommends the blacklisting of one national from Kazakhstan, Aleksandr Viktorovich Zykov, and two from Ukraine, Iurii Lunov and Igor Karev-Popov, for their involvement in North Korea-related arms deals.

The panel listed North Korea's February nuclear test and its rocket launches as examples of violations of Security Council resolutions that have increased international concerns about Pyongyang. It was North Korea's third nuclear test since 2006.

Pyongyang is under U.N., U.S., European Union and other sanctions, including a U.N. ban on all arms exports, due to its nuclear weapons program.

IMPORT-EXPORT

Among potential violations the panel listed were the seizure by a U.N. member state of aluminum alloys suspected to be nuclear-related in August 2012 and the seizure of missile-related items bound for Syria in May 2012.

Previous breaches included shipments of arms-related material to Syria in November 2010 and rocket fuses for Iran in 2008, the panel report said.

"The DPRK has continued its efforts to import and export items relevant to missile and nuclear programs and arms," it said.

The panel said countries should be on the lookout for North Korean attempts to procure the following key items for Pyongyang's nuclear program - maraging steel, frequency changers, high-strength aluminum alloy, fibrous or filiamentary materials, filament winding machines, ring magnets, semi-hard magnetic alloys in thin strip form and other items.

U.N. diplomats said that China, North Korea's principal ally and trading partner, continues to play a key role in enabling Pyongyang to skirt sanctions, though this is not discussed explicitly in the panel's report.

Beijing has vowed full implementation of the latest round of U.N. sanctions adopted by the council in March, though it remains unclear how much China was keeping that promise.

Recently Bank of China Ltd shut the account of North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, the state-run Foreign Trade Bank, which was hit with U.S. sanctions in March after Washington accused it of helping finance Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

That closure was the first significant, publicly announced step taken by a Chinese firm to curb dealings with North Korea.

Washington has urged Beijing to apply economic sanctions against North Korea to help cripple a nuclear arms program that Beijing has made clear it disapproves of, diplomats say.

TARGETING BANKS

The U.N. financial restrictions are working, the panel said.

"The panel is highly confident that financial measures of the resolutions in general are being effectively implemented by major banks," the experts wrote.

"It has concerns, however, about the ability of banks in states with less effective regulators and those unable to afford effective compliance to detect and prevent illicit DPRK transfers," said the report, citing a case involving the Bank of Congo in the Republic of Congo.

It said the Bank of Congo processed a wire transfer linked with an attempted arms shipment in 2009 to an account in the name of a diplomat at North Korea's embassy in Beijing, but Banque de France refused to accept the transfer.

"This case illustrates how the DPRK makes use of its diplomatic officials in the conduct of prohibited activities ... and in the using bank accounts to shield illicit fund transfers from bank's due diligence procedures," the experts said.

The report also said a diplomat at the North Korean embassy in the Republic of Congo has been actively involved in negotiating the contracts for the arms shipments.

The Security Council sanctions resolution adopted in March drew attention to North Korean bulk cash deliveries, an issue the expert panel also touched on in its report. U.N. envoys say such transfers are often carried out by North Korean diplomatic personnel.

The panel report referred to North Korea's "trade-based money-laundering via front companies and agents to pay for illicit procurements and to transfer proceeds of sales of weapons and WMD-related items."

The panel also said North Korea continues to violate the Security Council ban on luxury goods. It said that since May 2012 Japan has reported nine cases of suspected violations of the ban involving luxury goods including alcohol, tobacco, electronic items, automobiles and cosmetics.

"The DPRK circumvented sanctions using ... false shipping and customs declarations and the use of intermediaries to make payments either through hand carrying or wire transfers. In at least two instances the end users were falsely declared as a diplomatic mission in Pyongyang," it said.

It said the panel had also requested information from China on six earlier luxury goods cases.

"China's customs officials told the panel that goods covered by the panel's 2012 report were not considered luxury goods," the experts wrote.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols. Editing by Christopher Wilson and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-financial-sanctions-delay-north-koreas-atom-bomb-001455374.html

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Cameron faces leadership questions over Europe

By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron faced questions about his leadership on Tuesday after he bowed to pressure from inside the ruling Conservative Party to bring forward draft legislation enforcing a referendum on Britain's European Union membership.

Just hours after U.S. President Barack Obama cautioned against rushing towards the EU exit, Cameron was forced by a rebellion in his party into promising a bill that would pave the way for an in-out vote on Europe.

Cameron denied the move was a desperate measure to placate his increasingly restive and eurosceptic party, where many see the EU as an oppressive and wasteful "superstate" that threatens Britain's sovereignty.

"I think when all the dust has settled people will be able to see the substance of the issue," he said.

"That is that one party, the Conservatives, has a clear agenda: renegotiate, change Europe, have a referendum on it - the others parties don't take that approach," he told Sky news.

On the contrary, he said, he had shown leadership on the issue.

"The whole reason that we are now having this debate is because of the act of leadership I gave," he told ITV News, referring to an earlier promise to hold a referendum.

Yet the more ground Cameron concedes to his eurosceptic MPs, the more they want, deepening the 25-year battle in his party over Europe and undermining his own chances of leading it to victory in a general election set for 2015.

Divisions over Europe helped bring down the last two Conservative prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and many politicians compared Cameron's position to that of Major whose premiership was riven by rows over Europe.

"There is no way that he (Cameron) can give in any further because he's undermining his own position," said Sheila Gunn, who served as spokeswoman to Major.

RISKY PATH

Conservative MPs who back the new bill deny the move undermines Cameron. For them, it is a way of showing a sceptical public that the Conservatives really do want a referendum on Britain's EU membership, but are being held back.

The party's Liberal Democrat partners in coalition government are pro-Europe and oppose a referendum, while the opposition Labour party says it does not support a vote on the EU in 2017, the date proposed by Cameron earlier this year.

"We've set out our position and published this bill to give the British people an in-out referendum on Europe ... Now it's vital to hear whether Labour and the other parties are actually prepared to trust the British public," Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said in a statement.

Cameron's advisers hope the draft bill on an EU vote will end internal bickering. A Downing Street spokesman insisted Cameron was still in charge.

History shows Cameron is treading a risky path.

The three eurosceptic Conservative Party leaders who followed Major failed to get into power, and Cameron's capitulation over the new EU referendum bill has created the impression he is not in control of his own party.

"David Cameron's weakness has turned a European issue into a leadership issue," Labour foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Alexander said.

In January, Cameron promised to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership and then hold a referendum by the end of 2017 in a speech meant to draw a line under the issue.

But some MPs had called for further concessions and media reports said Cameron's leadership could be challenged.

Cameron's potential rivals include London Mayor Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Michael Gove.

"RED LINE"

Cameron believes his decision to publish the draft bill will silence his eurosceptic MPs until the next election.

"This is our red line," one senior Conservative source said of the bill. "We're not going to give them any more ground."

Despite his latest concession, up to 100 eurosceptic Conservative members of parliament are still expected to criticise the government's legislative plans on Wednesday because they didn't include a bill promising a vote on EU membership.

Since coming to power in a coalition government three years ago, the Conservatives have been rattled by the popularity of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which campaigns for Britain's withdrawal from the EU and tighter immigration laws.

A Guardian/ICM poll showed that UKIP's support had surged to a record high of 18 percent, while support for Britain's traditional parties had fallen by 4 percentage points each.

UKIP took a quarter of the vote in local elections this month. Unless Cameron can convince his party he can win the next election he is likely to face more challenges to his leadership.

"With the story changing every day, it's very reminiscent of the old John Major days where, really, the government appears to be being blown around by events," said UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

The Guardian poll put Labour on 34 percent, the Conservatives on 28 percent and the Lib Dems on 11 percent.

UKIP's poll rating has climbed steadily since Cameron set out his EU strategy in January.

Cameron's bid to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership has worried the United States, which has warned London that it would lose influence in the world if it did leave the world's biggest economic bloc.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Abbas, William James, Costas Pitas and William Schomberg; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cameron-faces-leadership-questions-over-europe-145251634.html

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