Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Did Boston Marathon bombing suspects? mother push them toward jihad?

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva says her sons were framed by US authorities in the Boston Marathon bombing. But in recorded conversations, she discusses jihad with her son?Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / April 28, 2013

The mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, speaks at a news conference in Makhachkala, the southern Russian province of Dagestan on Thursday. She says she thinks her sons were framed.

Musa Sadulayev/AP

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At this point in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, there are many more questions than answers, but they mostly boil down to one in particular:

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Did alleged suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have any outside help, either in the United States or abroad, before setting off two bombs that killed three marathon spectators and wounded more than 260 others.

Officials have said the Tsarnaev brothers were ?self-radicalized,? young Muslims influenced by what they learned growing up as the US waged wars in Islamic Iraq and Afghanistan. Whatever outlook they developed likely was crystallized for them via online wanderings through radical websites, then older brother Tamerlan?s six-month visit to Russian republics.

Tamerlan is dead, and Dzhokhar lies wounded in a small cell with a steel door at a federal medical detention center about 40 miles west of Boston. Before he was read his legal rights and stopped talking, the younger brother reportedly told interrogators that the two acted alone.

That may be literally true, but evidence of outside influence in the direction of radical beliefs mounts ? including from the brothers? mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva.

It was reported Saturday that Russian authorities secretly recorded a telephone conversation in 2011 in which one of the Boston bombing suspects vaguely discussed jihad with his mother.

In a second call, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva spoke with a man in the Caucasus region of Russia who was under FBI investigation, according to the Associated Press. Still, there was no information in the conversation that suggested a plot inside the United States, officials told the AP.

On ?Fox News Sunday,? Rep. Rep. Michael McCaul, (R) of Texas and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack, particularly with the bombs they fashioned.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/yCBvYo06Wc4/Did-Boston-Marathon-bombing-suspects-mother-push-them-toward-jihad

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Big Papi stays hot as Red Sox roll over Astros

By KEN POWTAK

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 11:05 p.m. ET April 27, 2013

BOSTON (AP) - David Ortiz has even run out of ways to talk about his red-hot return.

Ortiz had two hits and three RBIs to extend his torrid start after a long layoff, and Felix Doubront overcame a wild first inning to pitch into the seventh as the Boston Red Sox beat the struggling Houston Astros 8-4 on Saturday night.

"I ain't talking about that anymore," said Ortiz, joking with the media as he dressed quickly in front of his locker. "You make up a new question, I'll answer it. Otherwise, copy what I said yesterday and the day before."

The 37-year old Ortiz made quite a return in his first seven games. He is hitting .519 (14 of 27) with two homers and nine RBIs since getting back into the lineup last Saturday after missing the 71 of the final 72 games last season and all of spring training with a heel injury.

"He's doing things that look to him to be very easy, but its hard to imagine or even script out that he'd have this kind of performance considering the layoff," Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

It was 14th win in 19 games for the surging Red Sox (17-7). Boston can tie a club record for the most wins in April by completing a four-game sweep over Houston (7-17) on Sunday.

The Astros, coming off 56 and 55 wins seasons the last two, respectively, in the National League, are finding their new league just as tough.

"I don't get caught up in the record," Astros first-year manager Bo Porter said. "I deal with each day, each game, one game at a time."

Boston matched its best start since 2002 with its fourth straight win.

The Red Sox went 18-8 in April 1998 and 2003.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a two-run single for the Red Sox. Dustin Pedroia and Daniel Nava each added two hits and an RBI.

Doubront (3-0) walked three in the first, hit a batter, and had a wild pitch before settling down to hold the Astros to three runs, four hits, striking out eight and walking four over 6 2-3 innings.

"Seriously, I don't know what happened in the first inning," Doubront said. "I was feeling like I was using more of my arm than my body. I was frustrated because I was thinking a little too much. But overall, after the first inning, I was really focused and I wasn't thinking about my mechanics at all. I was throwing the ball. I was so happy I did that."

Houston starter Brad Peacock (1-3) gave up five runs on six hits in 3 2-3 innings. He hasn't gone past five innings in each of his five starts.

"I know we've got to start doing better," he said. "I'm just going to keep working and hopefully I can get out of this."

Doubront retired 17 of 19 batters after the rough beginning. He was pulled with a runner on in the seventh. Alex Wilson escaped a bases-loaded, eighth-inning jam and Andrew Miller pitched the ninth.

Trailing 2-0, Boston scored four runs in the second on Ellsbury's two-run single and Ortiz's two-run double into the left field corner.

Ortiz's sacrifice fly made it 5-2 in the fourth after Nava doubled leading off and advanced on Pedroia's ground out to second.

Jose Altuve's run-scoring ground out cut it to 5-3 in the seventh.

Stephen Drew, Nava and Pedroia each had RBI singles in the seventh.

The Astros took advantage of Doubront's wild first to grab their first lead of the series. Doubront hit Brandon Barnes after a leadoff single before walking Brandon Laird. He then walked Chris Carter, forcing in a run, before Ronny Cedeno's sacrifice fly made it 2-0. The left-hander walked the next batter on four pitches, but got the final two outs easily.

NOTES: Farrell said OF Shane Victorino, sidelined since leaving Wednesday's game with a stiff lower back, has made slight progress, but was out again. ... Farrell also said that LHP Franklin Morales has been shut down for a few days with a strained muscle on his left side. Morales has been on the DL since March 22 with a strained lower back. ... Porter loaded his lineup with right-handed hitters from 1-7, with switch hitters in the final two spots. ... Porter had glowing praise for Boston 2B Pedroia before the game. "I think people should ask, `Why don't more people play the game that way?' I've been a fan of Dustin Pedroia's before I came to Fenway for these four games," he said. "He'll do what he can to beat you." ... Boston RHP Ryan Dempster walked out the player's parking lot and went for a jog on the streets outside the park about 2 hours before the game. Fans that were lined up to get in didn't even seem to notice. ... RHP John Lackey (0-1, 4.15 ERA) is set to make his return from the disabled list Sunday against Houston's Bud Norris (3-2, 4.13 ERA). Lackey went on the DL April 7 with a strained right biceps. ... The Red Sox improved to 13-0 when scoring first.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Extra-innings seem to suit the Diamondbacks just fine, as Arizona improved to 6-0 in extra-inning games this season on Saturday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51690800/ns/sports-baseball/

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PST: MLS to announce plans for 20th team in NYC

Major League Soccer has announced that in four to six weeks it will unveil plans for a new stadium in New York City to house the league?s 20th team.

Commissioner Don Garber discussed the plans while talking with reporters at halftime of Wednesday night?s contest between Toronto and Montreal?at BMO Field. In the conversation?Garber informed the public: ?We?are deeply engaged with potential ownership groups and we?re hopeful to be able to announce a 20th team within the next [four to six weeks].? The winning ownership group is expected to pay an expansion fee of?$100 million.

Garber had previously indicated that the league hoped?for something definitive on an expansion franchise in Queens by the end of 2013. He reiterated that desire on Wednesday, noting MLS? progress in getting a deal done.??We?re making progress,? Garber said of talks with New York City. ?We continue ? you?ve heard this for the last year ? but we continue to negotiate with the City of New York and meet with local political folks and community leaders to get support for the stadium we hope to build in Flushing Meadow Park.?

MORE: MLS expansion updates from Commissioner Garber

When asked if the New York Cosmos were going to be the 20th team, Garber refused to answer instead?saying that he and MLS support what the NASL is doing.?Garber did claim, however, that he believes MLS will continue its expansion beyond 20 teams by the end of 2020. But 30 teams? That would be too much of a leap.??It?s hard to imagine we?d have 30 teams,? Garber said. ?The other major leagues are around that size, they?ve been around 100 years.?

The league and the City have previously?been engaged in negotiations to build a stadium on a ten acre site in the Queens-based park with the goal of having a team begin playing there by 2016. On Thursday, Garber spoke again on the issue with the Associated Press, informing reporters that there are no other possible sites for a new stadium. ?If we get this done, it will be in Flushing Meadow Park. There is no Plan B.?

While New York is the league?s preferred choice for expansion, Orlando, Miami and Atlanta have all been linked as possible MLS expansions while USL Pro side Orlando City recently secured a $8.2m downtown parcel of land where they plan to build a new soccer-specific stadium.

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/25/mls-set-to-announce-plans-for-20th-team-in-new-york-city/related/

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Fatal stabbing of girl, 8, prompts NorCal manhunt

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Residents of a rural Northern California county were being told Sunday to keep their doors locked and report anyone considered suspicious as authorities continued the search for the killer of an 8-year-old girl.

Calaveras County deputies and law enforcement officials from nearby agencies were looking for a suspect after Leila Fowler was found stabbed in her Valley Springs home around noon Saturday.

The girl was found by her brother ? reported by local media to be 12-years-old ? after he encountered a male intruder in the home. When the intruder ran away, the boy found his sister stabbed. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.

Initially Leila was reported as being 9-years-old, but Coroner Kevin Raggio said Sunday that she would have turned 9 in June.

Authorities spent Saturday night and into Sunday conducting a door-to-door sweep of homes scattered across hilly terrain, checking storage sheds and horse stables, and even searching attics.

"It is a difficult area to search, it's rural, remote," sheriff's Capt. Jim Macedo said.

Reverse 911 calls and Nixle mass notifications alerted area residents about the incident and the search for the suspect, officials said.

"I was working on my tractor and a CHP copter kept flying over my house," area resident Roger Ballew, 35, told The Associated Press on Sunday, referring to the California Highway Patrol.

A SWAT team showed up at his house Saturday night and told him to stay inside, Ballew said.

"It was nerve-wracking, I didn't sleep well," he said.

Investigators on Sunday were interviewing several people, but no suspects have been named.

"It's just terrible," area resident Paul Gschweng told Sacramento television station KCRA. "What can I say about it, it's just a tragedy."

The station reported that a neighbor told police that a man was running from the girl's home after the incident.

The suspect was seen wearing a black shirt and blue pants. Authorities considered him armed and dangerous.

Investigators were asking area residents to call authorities if they had any information, or knew of anyone who may have unexplained injuries, or may have left the area unexpectedly after the girl was killed.

Valley Springs is a community of about 2,500 people in an unincorporated area of Calaveras County, about 60 miles southeast of Sacramento.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fatal-stabbing-girl-8-prompts-norcal-manhunt-194628919.html

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Maverick operator Digicel takes on the big boys in Myanmar

By Jeremy Wagstaff

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cellular operator Digicel Group Ltd jumped into Myanmar early and big, hiring staff, funding local sports, negotiating land deals for thousands of cell tower sites and signing up hundreds of partners for retail outlets.

The strategy helped propel it onto the shortlist for a mobile license in one of the world's last mobile frontiers, putting an operator that ranks 65th globally in terms of customers up against giants such as Vodafone Group Plc.

Whether its strategy pays off or not, industry insiders say, Digicel, largely unknown outside the Caribbean and some Pacific islands, has shaken up a usually conservative industry.

"They have been a disruptive force," said Roger Barlow, a Hong Kong-based telecommunications consultant who has worked in Asia for more than 25 years. "Some of the big guys tend to look down their noses at them but they shouldn't because they're becoming a credible player."

Myanmar this month short-listed 12 consortia for two licenses it plans to grant foreign operators in late June. The government wants to expand mobile penetration from less than 4 percent to up to 80 percent by 2015-16.

While Digicel is up against behemoths such as Vodafone, China Mobile Ltd and Telenor ASA, several other big players failed to make the list - among them South Korea's SK Telecom Co Ltd and Egypt's Orascom Telecom Holding SAE.

It's a vindication of sorts for Digicel's long-term approach. Business development director Frank O'Carroll led the charge into Myanmar in 2009. In early 2012 he persuaded the company to commit funds to build a local brand and prepare the ground so that if it did get the go-ahead it could roll out a service in a matter of months.

That entailed deploying hundreds of workers across the country to negotiate thousands of leases for base station sites, months before the government had even begun the tender process.

"There's not one square inch of the country we haven't been in," O'Carroll said in an interview in Singapore.

Its sponsorship of the national football federation has built brand awareness - of sorts. Lots of locals have heard of Digicel, O'Carroll said, though at least initially they were as likely to think it's a brand of battery as a cellphone operator.

It's a strategy, he said, that Digicel has been pursuing in much smaller markets for more than a decade.

"What we are doing in Myanmar is not unique to Myanmar," said O'Carroll. "The first country that Digicel as a company looked to get a license was Trinidad and Tobago. We did very the same thing. We were there, we leased the land, we rented local offices, we started a local team, sponsored big sports."

SMALL AND NIMBLE

Digicel has since set up shop in 31 markets, gaining 13 million customers. While none boasts a population above 10 million people, the company has taken on some major rivals, including America Movil SAB, Vodafone, Telefonica and Cable & Wireless.

"I don't think there's any fantastic science to it, but I do think it's our ability to move fast because we're small, we don't have this complex machinery that takes months and months to make decisions," said Vanessa Slowey, Singapore-based CEO of Digicel Asia Pacific, in an interview.

Making those decisions is Digicel owner Denis O'Brien, an Irish billionaire who first focused on small markets in the Caribbean after noticing that spectrum was being auctioned off in Jamaica. Eventually the Pacific beckoned.

Telecoms executive David Borrill recalls meeting O'Brien in his office after three years working for the incumbent operator in Samoa. "He went straight over to his library and opened the biggest atlas he had, turned to the Pacific and said, 'Tell me about this, where would you put an office here?'"

A few weeks later Borrill was back in Samoa, this time working for Digicel. The company bought out Telecom New Zealand's stake in the incumbent operator in 2006, and within six months had more than doubled its customer base.

Last financial year the company reported revenue of $2.5 billion, year-on-year growth of 14 percent and EBITDA of $1.08 billion, up 13 percent. It has 87 percent market share in Haiti, at least 75 percent in Jamaica and 92 percent of Papua New Guinea, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

"Digicel is very astute in selecting the markets it enters," said John Hibbard, an Australia-based telecoms consultant. "It has to be convinced it will win a reasonable market share."

When it isn't, it's prepared to abort. In East Timor, for example, Digicel went so far as building cell towers, and assured the government that if granted a license it could cover more than 90 percent of the population within four months.

But, Digicel said, the government dragged its feet and ignored advice to issue only one license. So when it did eventually win one of the two on offer last year, Digicel turned it down. "Why would we invest $50 million to compete with two other operators, for the 40 percent that is left? It's crazy. So we handed our license back," said O'Carroll.

Digicel sold its assets to the other licensee Telin, a unit of Indonesia's PT Telkom. The company broke even on its Timor investment, said Digicel's Slowey, without giving details.

Such an approach is at odds with the industry's more conservative approach, where investment decisions must be highly rational and based on certain outcomes.

"Digicel doesn't have the institutional memory of other telcos," said Rob Bratby, a Singapore-based telecoms lawyer with Olswang LLP. "It's an example of a company with a different mental framework."

SOROS PARTNERSHIP

Digicel, however, has not had a free ride in Myanmar. The government turned down its proposal in 2012 to set up a joint venture with the incumbent operator, Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications, in favor of an open tender.

That has meant facing the diplomatic and financial muscle of some of the world's biggest and best-connected operators, prompting Digicel to take on its own partners: Yoma Strategic Holdings, owned by Serge Pun, a powerful businessman who, unlike many tycoons in Myanmar, isn't entangled in Western sanctions. The other member of the consortium: Quantum Strategic Partners, owned by financier George Soros.

The Soros-funded Open Society Foundations have long worked with exiles, refugees and dissidents, according to its website. Last year Soros said he would set up an office in Yangon.

Digicel shrugs off criticism that it lacks the experience of working in big markets like Myanmar, arguing that it's harder to work in lots of countries, whatever their size. Among the shortlistees, only France Telecom SA matches Digicel in the number of markets covered.

"Whether it's the smallest country in the world you deploy in or the largest, it's still the same building blocks, still the same issues that you must go through," said O'Carroll. "A lot of those same things, whether it's Nauru's 9,000 people or Myanmar's 60 million, we think are going to be identical."

(Additional reporting by Jason Szep in Bangkok; Editing by Emily Kaiser)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/maverick-operator-digicel-takes-big-boys-myanmar-210540502.html

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

SmackDown Results: The Undertaker returned to SmackDown, only to suffer the strategic wrath of The Shield

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2013 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2013 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2013-04-26/results

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Syria's neighbors cautious about U.S.-led intervention

By Nick Tattersall

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's neighbors, wary of stirring a conflict that could spill back over their borders, would be reluctant partners in a U.S.-led intervention but are ultimately likely to support limited military action if widespread use of chemical weapons is proven.

The White House disclosed U.S. intelligence on Thursday that Syria had likely used chemical weapons, a move President Barack Obama had said could trigger unspecified consequences, widely interpreted to include possible U.S. military action.

Syrian neighbors Jordan and Turkey, their support key in any such intervention, have long been vocal critics of Bashar al-Assad. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, an erstwhile ally of the Syrian President, was among the first to call openly for his overthrow while allowing armed opponents to use Turkish soil.

But their rhetoric has been tempered by the changing circumstances of a war that has dragged on beyond their expectations and grown increasingly sectarian, as well as by the suspicion they will be left bearing the consequences of any action orchestrated by Western powers thousands of miles away.

For Turkey's leaders, facing elections next year, talk of chemical weapons is an uncomfortable reminder of the wave of anti-U.S. sentiment which followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, justified by intelligence on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that turned out to be erroneous.

Turkey, which shares a 900-km border with Syria, has reacted cautiously to the U.S. disclosure while Jordan, fearful of the growing influence of radical Islamists in the Syrian rebel ranks, has voiced its preference for a political solution.

"The international community, and especially the peoples of the Middle East, have lost confidence in any report which argues that there are weapons of mass destruction or chemical weapons," said one source close to the Turkish government.

"Right now, no-one wants to believe them. And if Assad uses chemical weapons some day ... I still think Turkey's primary reaction would be asking for more support to the opposition rather than an intervention."

Turkey's rhetoric on Syria, at least in public, has toned down markedly over the past six months, even as shelling and gunfire spilled over the border and the influx of refugees to camps on its territory swelled to a quarter of a million.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's push for a foreign-protected "safe zone" inside Syria gained little traction among allies and appears to have quietly slipped from the agenda. Even Erdogan, whose speeches were regularly laced with bellicose anti-Assad rhetoric, mentions the conflict less frequently.

But many analysts believe both the pro-U.S. monarchy in Jordan and Erdogan's government in Ankara would toe the line should Washington seek their cooperation in military action.

Turkey's relations with Washington have at times been prickly - notably in 2003 when it failed to allow the deployment of U.S. forces to Turkey to open a northern front in the Iraq war - but strategic cooperation has generally remained strong.

Turkish support and bases proved vital, for example, to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, while Turkey hosts a U.S.-operated NATO radar system to protect against any regional threat from Iran.

"Given the texture of the current government's relations with the U.S. and given the history of its discourse on Syria, I think it would be not impossible but rather difficult for Mr Erdogan not to oblige U.S. demands," said Faruk Logoglu, former Turkish ambassador to Washington and vice chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party.

RELUCTANT PARTNERS

Although Obama has warned Syria that using chemical weapons against its own people would cross a "red line", he has also made clear he is in no rush to intervene on the basis of evidence he said was still preliminary.

Syria denies using chemical weapons in the two-year-old conflict in which more than 70,000 people have been killed.

Mindful of the lessons of the start of the Iraq war, aides have insisted Obama will need all the facts before deciding what steps to take. But acknowledgment of the intelligence assessment appears to have moved the United States closer - at least rhetorically - to some sort of action, military or otherwise.

Turkey and Jordan would be key to any such move, but they may prove reluctant.

From the outset, Turkey has felt slighted.

Before the crisis, Erdogan cultivated a friendship with Assad, personal ties which he tried to use after the start of the uprising in March 2011 to persuade the Syrian leader to embrace reform and open dialogue. He was rebuffed.

When his strategy changed, he began calling for Assad's removal and allowing the Syrian opposition to organize on Turkish soil. Ankara felt it gained praise from Washington and its allies but little in the way of concrete support.

"Turkey feels lonely in many senses," the Turkish source said, saying that a military intervention now would leave Turkey and Syria's other neighbors reeling from the consequences.

"There is always the risk of creating more destruction and creating a failed state in Syria ... This thing is happening next door. The flames are reaching us, starting to burn us, where they can't reach the United States, Qatar, or the UK."

Jordan's King Abdullah said last year Assad should step down, but the kingdom is increasingly concerned by the growing strength in Syrian rebel ranks of Islamist fighters who view the monarchy with just as much hostility as they do Assad.

Further fuelling those fears is the presence of fighters from the Nusra Front, which has declared its allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, among rebels who have taken territory across Syria's southern province of Deraa, only 120 km (75 miles) from the Jordanian capital Amman.

Officials fear Syria has become a magnet for Islamist fighters who could one day turn their guns on Jordan - as Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi did during the sectarian conflict in neighboring Iraq. Zarqawi was widely believed to have been behind simultaneous attacks on Jordanian tourist hotels which killed dozens of people in November 2005.

SENSE OF URGENCY

Such fears could push the U.S. and its allies to act.

"The fact that the opposition is divided cuts both ways. It makes the logistics and even the politics of an intervention more difficult," said Sinan Ulgen of the Istanbul-based Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM).

"But at the same time it reinforces the urgency of an intervention: the more the international community does not intervene in Syria, the more likely it is that the radical elements will gain the upper hand in a post-Assad Syria."

Turkish officials and diplomats have expressed concern about the role Saudi Arabia may be playing in providing weapons which are going to the hands of radical Islamist elements among the Syrian rebel ranks.

U.S. intelligence agencies believes Assad's forces may have used the nerve agent sarin on a small scale against rebel fighters. The fear is that an increasingly desperate Assad may use such weapons more widely the longer the conflict drags on.

An attack like that on the Iraqi Kurdish city of Halabja - where an estimated 5,000 people died in a poison gas attack ordered by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 25 years ago, the most notorious use of chemical weapons in the Middle East in recent history - could sway public opinion in the region.

"A major chemical attack would outrage the Arab and Muslim street ... It would be difficult just to watch, then everyone would intervene," said retired Jordanian air force general Mamoun Abu Nowar.

The role Turkey or Jordan would play in any military action will depend on Washington's strategy, but logistical support for limited missile strikes or possible assistance in enforcing the sort of no-fly zone long advocated by Turkey appear more likely than sending in ground troops.

Turkey is home to NATO's second-largest army and to the Incirlik Air base, which provided logistical support for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is already hosting hundreds of U.S. soldiers operating part of a NATO Patriot missile system to defend against possible Syrian attack.

Washington meanwhile announced last week it was sending an army headquarters unit - which could theoretically command combat troops - to Jordan, bolstering efforts started last year to plan for contingencies there as Syria's conflict deepens.

"A surgical strike to get the stocks of chemical weapons ... or establishing air superiority through a number of strikes against Syrian air defenses, this is the type of scenario being contemplated in Turkey," said EDAM's Ulgen.

"Anything beyond that is much more difficult to see."

(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi and Khaled Oweis in Amman; Writing by Nick Tattersall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrias-neighbors-cautious-u-led-intervention-120014537.html

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93% No

All Critics (99) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (92) | Rotten (7)

"No" is a picture that perches precariously on the cusp of a paradox.

A cunning and richly enjoyable combination of high-stakes drama and media satire from Chilean director Pablo Larrain.

A mesmerizing, realistic and often hilarious look at the politics of power and the power of ideas ...

A political drama, a personal drama, a sharp-eyed study of how the media manipulate us from all sides, No reels and ricochets with emotional force.

It's a funny look at the way the media warp public opinion, and a curiously hopeful one.

On every level, "No" leaves one with bittersweet feelings about democracy, love and the cost of compromise.

A bitingly funny, fascinating and moving portrait of Pinochet's fall that's smartly shot and superbly performed.

"NO" is an inspirational political drama in which the people are roused by the visual to overcome the vicious.

... features a fine performance by Gael Garc?a Bernal as young ad exec Ren? Saavedra, who didn't, at first, quite realise what he was in for when he decided to assist in the bringing down of military dictator Augusto Pinochet.

No is a great historical document as to how one very important revolution started with a commercial.

The understated performance by Bernal was inspiring, as was the pic.

It's not easy material but it's truly fascinating, and expertly done.

An extremely perceptive and intriguing examination of the effect that media hype and spin have on the political process.

...a bitter and knowing meditation on media manipulation and political subversion.

Larrain deftly mixes social satire and historical drama.

All historical and little drama.

Larrain does a fine job of making No look and sound authentic to its time period, although the VHS-quality photography, all washed-out with colors bleeding together as camcorders did in the '80s, is an occasional irritant.

Silliness is on the side of the angels in a brilliant and highly entertaining film that's part political thriller, part media satire.

It's clear that the language of advertising has become universal, and that political commodities can be sold like soap. But toppling a dictatorship? Now there's a story.

A reflection of a moment in time, made in the image of that moment.

Bernal deftly explores the layers of the character's complexity, including his political apathy.

"No" is filmmaking of the first order.

Old technology plus the packaging of a revolution add up to a Yes

Freshens up a decades-old story with vibrant humor and a good sense of storytelling.

No quotes approved yet for No. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_2012/

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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Can I Get A Home Loan After A Short Sale? | Bankrate.com

mortgage

Mortgage ? Can I Get A Home Loan After A Short Sale?

The dream of homeownership doesn't have to end when you sell your home through a short sale. Underwater homeowners, who sell their homes for less than what they owe, can qualify for a home loan again.

They'll need persistence and strong credit discipline, says Jennifer Lusk, a California resident who sold her home through a short sale in 2010 and last year was able to get a mortgage to buy another home.

Lusk had to sell her home through short sale after her husband had a back injury and they could no longer afford their $2,500 monthly mortgage payments.

Her second try at homeownership didn't happen overnight.

"We checked on what the laws were for purchasing after a short sale and learned that our credit had to be high enough if we wanted to do a conventional loan and that we had to wait two years from the closing date," she says.

Today, the couple lives in a "beautiful home" in Terra Bella, Calif. Their monthly mortgage payment is less than $900.

In today's tight lending environment, many homeowners tend to think it's nearly impossible to qualify for a mortgage after a short sale, says Scott Schang, manager at Broadview Mortgage Katella in Orange, Calif.

"After a short sale, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not far away," Schang says.

Minimum requirements to get a mortgage after a short sale

Short sellers normally have to wait at least two years after closing the short sale to qualify for a mortgage. But the time frame and requirements vary depending on the type of the loan and the down payment, Schang says.

The minimum wait period and down payment requirements to get a conventional loan after a short sale are:

  • Two-year wait with a 20 percent down payment.
  • Four-year wait with a 10 percent down payment.
  • Seven-year wait with less than 10 percent down payment.

For Federal Housing Administration loans, there's a three-year waiting period from the short sale closing date, and homebuyers can get a mortgage with as low as 3.5 percent down. Those who qualify for a Veterans Affairs loan have to wait two years and are not required to make a down payment.

FHA is the shortest route for buyers with less than 10 percent down, Schang says.

"After the waiting period, borrowers can qualify for the same FHA loan as the person who never had a foreclosure or short sale," Schang says.

But many lenders may want to know the circumstances under which the homeowner opted for a short sale, says Julie Flatland, vice president of credit at Carrington Mortgage Services in Santa Ana, Calif.

Take two borrowers: one who had to short sell because of a job transfer, and another who chose to do a short sale to dump an underwater mortgage. Lenders often view the first buyer, who did a short sale because of a job transfer, as less of a risk, Flatland says.

"As a lender, we want to make sure the borrower is not taking advantage of the declining market," Flatland says. "So we're going to ask for documentation showing that they really had no alternative other than short sale."

Rebuilding credit after a short sale

Lenders generally require a FICO credit score of at least 680 for conventional loans, Flatland says. Borrowers should regard the waiting period as a chance to rebuild credit, she says.

And that's exactly what Lusk did. After the short sale, she and her husband worked to improve their credit scores and financial situation, while they waited to become eligible for a conventional mortgage.

"During that time we lived very simply," Lusk says. "We paid off all of our debt and we started saving up for a down payment. We just never wanted to be house-poor again."

The effort paid off. The Lusks saved enough for a 20 percent down payment and were able to get a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.5 percent, which is an attractive interest rate.

Potential obstacles

Before Lusk was able to get her loan approved, she had to overcome an obstacle that many short sellers encounter when they apply for a mortgage. Her servicer had incorrectly reported her short sale as a foreclosure to the credit bureaus, and the error had to be fixed. Buyers with foreclosures on their records must wait seven years before they can qualify for conventional mortgages.

"This is a really common challenge that happens with short sales," Schang says. "The credit bureaus don't report the short sale correctly, and if a lender doesn't know this, the loan ends up declined."

Inaccurate credit reports are why short sellers must get and keep proper documentation from the lender at the time the short sale papers are signed, says Dan Klinger, president of K. Hovnanian American Mortgage & Title Co.

"Find out when your short sale date was and when the title went from your name to the buyer," he says. "Keep good records, and keep your eye on the calendar because your homebuying future is still out there."

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/home-loan-after-short-sale.aspx

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English Language Fellow Program - TESOL Career Center

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Accepting applications from TESOL professionals for fellowships Worldwide- must be U.S. citizen and have a Master's degree to apply.

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For more detailed information on the English Language Fellow Program and to apply, please visit our website at elfellowprogram.org

The English Language (EL) Fellow Program fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries by sending talented, highly qualified U.S. educators in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) on ten-month fellowships to overseas academic institutions in all regions of the world. The program promotes English language learning and enhances English teaching capacity abroad. Through U.S. embassy projects, Fellows share their expertise, hone their skills, gain international experience, and learn other cultures. Upon returning to the United States, they share their experiences and acquired knowledge with their communities and professional colleagues.

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The EL Fellow Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

?

Fellowship Eligibility Requirements:
?

?????????? U.S. Citizenship

?????????? Master?s degree with a focus in TEFL/TESL or Master?s degree in other fields directly relevant to the accepted projects and either a state K-12 ESL endorsement or TEFL/TESL certification consisting of minimum of 120 course hours and a supervised practicum

?????????? Degree must be conferred by end of spring term 2013

?????????? Fellows must have a minimum 2 years professional TESL/TEFL experience; both teacher training and curriculum/materials development experience are helpful.

?????????? Two confidential letters of recommendation from professional or academic contacts, including one letter from a current or most recent supervisor, submitted by references directly through the on-line application. Letters older than two years are considered invalid
?

Senior Fellowship Eligibility Requirements:

In addition to meeting the requirements outlined for Fellowship positions, Senior Fellow candidates will also meet the following criteria:

?

?????????? Minimum two years of experience in teaching English to non-native speakers (minimum one year of professional TESOL experience in the U.S education K-16 system and minimum one year overseas TEFL experience)*

?????????? TESOL experience in the areas of teacher training (workshops, graduate courses, and/or plenary presentations); systematic/large scale curriculum development (at institution, state, and/or national levels); materials development (printed and/or online course materials); publications (refereed journal articles, books on education, and/or juried presentations); and/or supervision (program director, coordinator, owner, and/or department chair)

?

?

Fellows serve as full-time ESL/EFL instructors and may be engaged in some teacher training, ESP instruction, curriculum/materials development, test design, assessment, evaluation, programming, summer camps, and outreach projects.

Senior Fellows serve primarily as teacher trainers and may be engaged in supervision, advising, ESP instruction, curriculum/materials development, test design, assessment, evaluation, programming, research, and outreach projects.

Assignments are for a 10-month period typically beginning in September 2012, following a mandatory 4-day pre-departure orientation conference in Washington, DC. Some projects may begin in October, others begin in early 2013.

?

Complete on-line application dossier must contain the following:
? Online application
? R?sum?
? Two 1-page lesson plans/teacher training modules
? Statement of purpose (not to exceed 500 words)
? Applying fellowship experience (not to exceed 500 words)
? Two current reference letters
? Graduate transcript

?

Program provisions:
? Stipend: Fellows - $25,000; Senior Fellows - $35,000
? Living allowance
? Round trip airfare to the United States to the host country
? Supplemental health benefit plan
? Miscellaneous allowances (shipping, educational materials, program activities, and pre-departure expenses).

For more information about the Program and to apply, please visit our website.

?

For more information and to apply: elf.georgetown.edu

?

For news and announcements follow us on twitter: @ELFellowProgram

?

To receive email updates on our online application send an email with the title ?subscribe to application updates? to elf@georgetown.edu

Source: http://careers.tesol.org/jobs/5359854/english-language-fellow-program

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Spotlight on Africa's life source -- first 'Soil Atlas of Africa'

Spotlight on Africa's life source -- first 'Soil Atlas of Africa' [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Berta Duane
berta.duane@ec.europa.eu
39-033-278-9743
European Commission Joint Research Centre

The European Commission has today presented the first Soil Atlas of Africa, highlighting a vital natural resource which provides food, fodder, fuel wood, reduces flood risk and protects water supplies. With full colour maps and illustrations, the atlas explains in a simple and clear manner the diversity of soil across the African continent and emphasizes the importance of this non-renewable resource. Coordinated by the European Commission's in-house science service, the JRC, an internationally renowned group of soil scientists from Africa and Europe has contributed to this atlas. The aim is to raise awareness at all levels from politicians to the general public - of the significance of soil to life in Africa.

Presenting the Soil Atlas of Africa at today's College-to-College meeting of the European Commission and the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, said: "The soils of Africa have a crucial role in climate change adaptation and mitigation polices and they are the basis for sustainable development and food security. Land productivity is fundamental to reaching many of the Millennium Development Goals."

Commissioner Mire Geoghegan-Quinn, responsible for Research, Innovation and Science, added: "By providing a comprehensive assessment of this limited natural resource we hope to raise awareness of the need for improved protection and sustainable management of African soil."

Deserts and drylands comprise 60% of the land surface of the African continent, populated by over one billion people. Much of the remaining land shows old, highly weathered soils which require special attention to be of use for agriculture. Population growth and urbanisation, coupled with conflicting economic challenges (cultivation of cash crops for export, biofuel production, biodiversity conservation, mineral extraction, carbon sequestration), increase the already heavy pressure on the land. Fertile and productive soils are key to tackling hunger and are a particular challenge in Africa, where, in many parts, soils are losing nutrients faster than fertilisers can be added.

Informed decision making is currently limited by the scarcity of up to date data on the soil resources of Africa. The JRC, in collaboration with the FAO and African soil scientists, will launch a pan-African assessment on the state of soil resources at the forthcoming conference of the African Soil Science Society in Kenya (October 2013).

Background

The Soil Atlas is a collaborative initiative of the European Union, the African Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to support and encourage the sustainable use of soil resources in Africa and the Global Soil Partnership for Food Security.

The Atlas explains the origin and functions of soil, describes the different soil types and their relevance to both local and global issues. It also discusses the principal threats to soil and the steps being taken to protect soil resources.

Some key facts from the atlas:

  • 98% of all calories consumed in Africa originate from the soil resources of Africa.
  • Organic matter in the soil can store more than ten times its weight of water, which reduces risk of floods and protects underground water supplies.
  • Africa's soils store about 200 gigatonnes of organic carbon - 2.5 times more than contained in the continent's plants.
  • Tropical rainforest soils are not naturally fertile but need a constant supply of organic matter from natural vegetation. Deforestation breaks this cycle.
  • Over half of Africa's land surface is characterised by sandy soils (22%), shallow stony soils (17%) and young, weakly developed soils (11%).
  • Many of the soils of Africa are severely degraded by erosion and excessive nutrient depletion. This explains the low productivity of African soils, mainly due to lack of plant nutrients, not adequately replenished by artificial fertilizers. On average, African farmers, due to rural poverty, are able to apply only 10% of the nutrients that farmers in the rest of the world return to the soil.

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Spotlight on Africa's life source -- first 'Soil Atlas of Africa' [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Berta Duane
berta.duane@ec.europa.eu
39-033-278-9743
European Commission Joint Research Centre

The European Commission has today presented the first Soil Atlas of Africa, highlighting a vital natural resource which provides food, fodder, fuel wood, reduces flood risk and protects water supplies. With full colour maps and illustrations, the atlas explains in a simple and clear manner the diversity of soil across the African continent and emphasizes the importance of this non-renewable resource. Coordinated by the European Commission's in-house science service, the JRC, an internationally renowned group of soil scientists from Africa and Europe has contributed to this atlas. The aim is to raise awareness at all levels from politicians to the general public - of the significance of soil to life in Africa.

Presenting the Soil Atlas of Africa at today's College-to-College meeting of the European Commission and the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, said: "The soils of Africa have a crucial role in climate change adaptation and mitigation polices and they are the basis for sustainable development and food security. Land productivity is fundamental to reaching many of the Millennium Development Goals."

Commissioner Mire Geoghegan-Quinn, responsible for Research, Innovation and Science, added: "By providing a comprehensive assessment of this limited natural resource we hope to raise awareness of the need for improved protection and sustainable management of African soil."

Deserts and drylands comprise 60% of the land surface of the African continent, populated by over one billion people. Much of the remaining land shows old, highly weathered soils which require special attention to be of use for agriculture. Population growth and urbanisation, coupled with conflicting economic challenges (cultivation of cash crops for export, biofuel production, biodiversity conservation, mineral extraction, carbon sequestration), increase the already heavy pressure on the land. Fertile and productive soils are key to tackling hunger and are a particular challenge in Africa, where, in many parts, soils are losing nutrients faster than fertilisers can be added.

Informed decision making is currently limited by the scarcity of up to date data on the soil resources of Africa. The JRC, in collaboration with the FAO and African soil scientists, will launch a pan-African assessment on the state of soil resources at the forthcoming conference of the African Soil Science Society in Kenya (October 2013).

Background

The Soil Atlas is a collaborative initiative of the European Union, the African Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to support and encourage the sustainable use of soil resources in Africa and the Global Soil Partnership for Food Security.

The Atlas explains the origin and functions of soil, describes the different soil types and their relevance to both local and global issues. It also discusses the principal threats to soil and the steps being taken to protect soil resources.

Some key facts from the atlas:

  • 98% of all calories consumed in Africa originate from the soil resources of Africa.
  • Organic matter in the soil can store more than ten times its weight of water, which reduces risk of floods and protects underground water supplies.
  • Africa's soils store about 200 gigatonnes of organic carbon - 2.5 times more than contained in the continent's plants.
  • Tropical rainforest soils are not naturally fertile but need a constant supply of organic matter from natural vegetation. Deforestation breaks this cycle.
  • Over half of Africa's land surface is characterised by sandy soils (22%), shallow stony soils (17%) and young, weakly developed soils (11%).
  • Many of the soils of Africa are severely degraded by erosion and excessive nutrient depletion. This explains the low productivity of African soils, mainly due to lack of plant nutrients, not adequately replenished by artificial fertilizers. On average, African farmers, due to rural poverty, are able to apply only 10% of the nutrients that farmers in the rest of the world return to the soil.

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/ecjr-soa042613.php

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Friday, April 26, 2013

NFL's big guys strutted draft in stripes

NEW YORK (AP) ? "It's called a three-piece, right?" Yes, Luke Joeckel, and by the way, nice blue checks with that vested suit at the NFL draft.

The Texas A&M offensive tackle led top prospects with a little bitty accessory that screamed loudly from Radio City Music Hall: the pocket square.

Joeckel's was a neat horizontal in a matching check worn with a striped tie, stripes being the other style memo received by the big guys in Thursday night's first round.

Nobody took that memo to heart quite so, um, intensely as Eddie Lacy, the Alabama running back in a wide-stripe tie, striped bluish jacket and, yes, a pocket square.

There were puffy squares, subdued solids folded in triangles and more on the matchy-matchy side from Ezekial Ansah of Brigham Young, Eric Fisher of Central Michigan and just about everyone else who took the stage for the group shot.

Bowties represented at three. Thanks Deon Jordan, but even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell showed up in a striped tie as the red carpet wound down and he put the draft on the clock.

____

Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nfls-big-guys-strutted-draft-stripes-002626119--nfl.html

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Snoop Lion Defends Rick Ross' Freedom Of Speech

'When you're buying Rozay, you're buying all that come with it,' Snoop tells 'RapFix Live' in reference to Ross' fallout with Reebok.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706311/snoop-lion-defends-rick-ross-reebok-freedom-speech.jhtml

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U.S. intelligence believes Syria?s Assad used chemical weapons ?on a small scale? (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/301637805?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Baltazar & Franco Finance "The Green Team" - Comic Book ...

Whether it's "Tiny Titans" or "Superman Family Adventures," Art Baltazar and Franco have no problem putting the fun into superhero comics. Come May 22, the dynamic creative duo join forces with artist Ig Guara have the opportunity to inject their unique sense of humor and adventure into DC Comics' new ongoing series "The Green Team: Teen Trillionaires," which explores a team of incredibly wealthy individuals and their adventures in the DC Universe. Among the details teased for the series are the world's most popular actress outfitted with a cybernetic arm, bringing Deathstroke the Terminator on as private security and more.

Comic Book Resouces spoke with the writing duo about their take on what unlimited finances in the DC Universe can purchase, the difficulty of creating new items for the Teen Trillionaires to get their hands on, the challenges of putting together a revival of a series from the 1970s and more.

CBR News: "The Green Team" #1 hits stores next month and explores what a near endless supply of money can buy you in the DCU. How do you guys plan to explore the concept of money as an actual superpower?

Franco: We explore it by spending a lot of it! That's what these guys do. They have a lot of it, more than you or I could ever imagine in a lifetime -- and they use it in new and interesting ways.

Art Baltazar: It's not like spending money, it's like, "I'm hungry, I'm going to go to the fridge and eat an apple." It's just there. They have anything that they want at their fingertips. If they want something, they have somebody make it for them or they order it or they ship it from China or whatever. The concept of money really isn't the same for us as it is to them.

There's an old adage that states restriction breeds creativity. When you have characters that can literally have anything they want at their disposal, do you find it challenging to have no restrictions on what these characters can obtain?

Franco: It's more finding what they don't have and trying to get that. That's kind of what the first story arc is about. These guys have it all, can have anything they want and we explore the things they don't have. The first story arc is kind of interesting to where it leads and what they wind up doing because of the results of that.

Baltazar: The challenge of it is trying to come up with -- you could buy anything you want, but what would be the creative twist in what they buy? You could buy a car, but what if you get a car that turns into a robot? We want to put a twist on everything -- like, you buy a Transformer. That would be cooler. We add a little bit of everything that would be outrageous and DC. DC Comics all the way, because it's a comic, so it doesn't have to be something that exists. Without giving anything away, purchases are bigger than life itself.

Realistically, how many trillionaires are there in the DC Universe? How many of them are actually on the Green Team?

Franco: We know of four definitely and they're all on the team.

Baltazar: [Laughs] Yeah. They all come from different kind[s] of money, too. Their families, some personal, some acquired wealth, but as far as other guys, I'm not really sure how much money Bruce Wayne has or Lex Luthor has. These guys probably have more money than those guys. Batman has a lot of money, though. He has some cool stuff.

Franco: Yeah, but he spends it all on Batman gadgets and Batmobiles and stuff like that. Our guys spend it on flying to Cancun.

Baltazar: [Laughs] Yeah. Batman sets the standard. He's putting up that plateau that we've got to get over -- Bruce Wayne, that is.

The series also features a famous actress with a cybernetic arm, which isn't really a story that's been done so far in the DCU. How have the format and characters of "The Green Team" pushed you into new creative directions in comics?

Franco: For us, every book that we do is a new creative direction, so this is really nothing new to us. We were very excited to take the characters and make them different than what you have seen in 1970-something and put a new twist on them and really update them. We're huge, huge fans of the older "Teen Titans" stuff and we're trying to incorporate some of that team mentality into here, where you have it not gelling together at first, but they've all got the same kind of background and they're all intermingled as far as relationships, so it's an interesting dynamic. We're trying to take these characters and do things with them that you really haven't seen in comics or superhero comics before. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Baltazar: Our comic reading goes way back to when we were kids, so you might see some of that kind of storytelling come through. Like he said, "Teen Titans," but I keep thinking -- I'm going to say the other guys -- but I'm really inspired by "The New Mutants" that was done in the late '80s. For me, the influence was "New Mutants" and "Teen Titans." You're going to see that. To do something never-before-done in comics, I'm sure you could find a cybernetic arm somewhere else, but we're going to do something else.

Franco: You're not going to see what happens with the cybernetic arm. That's what you see, but what really happens is something totally different.

Baltazar: Yeah, as the series goes on, you're going to see the changes that are going to happen. I won't reveal or spoil, but it's going to be cool. We're excited. We know where we're going at least for the first ten to twenty issues, hopefully people will dig it.

Deathstroke's appearance in the third issue is a great opportunity to see how mercenaries in the DCU make a living when not trying to destroy the heroes of the DCU. How does a character like Deathstroke react to the personalities of the teen trillionaires?

Franco: Well, he'll react positively because they've got a lot of money.

Baltazar: You have to remember, he's got a short fuse. If you tease the guy too much or hang around him too much, he might want to kill you too. [Laughs] That's some kind of attitude with Deathstroke. He's definitely in for the money.

What are you most looking forward to explore during the course of this series?

Baltazar: Just to make an awesome book, to make an awesome comic that people come back to. We just want high-end adventure and fun. "Green Team" versus the rest of the DC Universe is going to be the fun. Our goal was to have somebody finish the issue and go, "Wow, what was that? How did they do that?" That's what we want.

Franco: Exactly, at the end of every issue, Art and I want to walk away and say, "Hey, we would read this if we were on the other end of it. We would pick it up and read it." That's how we're approaching this issue.

Baltazar: Yeah, the characters aren't really serious. They're serious about what they're doing and being alive every day. Life itself to them is the awesome part. You're going to see. You're going to see the problems they have just trying to wake up everyday trying to be awesome, but you're going to see they run into problems. Everyone has a little bit of tension in their life -- and mine's getting ready for C2E2! [Laughs]

Wrapping up, in your opinion, are there any problems in the DCU that money can't solve?

Franco: Not according to our guys!

Baltazar: Yeah, our guys could do it. I don't know about the Clark Kent/Lois Lane love thing. I like it when they're kissing, but I don't know if Lois will --

Franco: Yeah, money can't buy love.

Baltazar: [Laughs] That's right. But if you read "Superman Family Adventures" #12, we take care of that problem.

Franco: [Laughs]

"The Green Team" #1 by Franco, Art Baltazar and Ig Guara hits stores May 22 from DC Comics.

Discuss this story in CBR's DC Universe forum. ?|?

TAGS: ?dc comics, new 52, the green team, art baltazar, franco, ig guara, deathstroke

Source: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=45108

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

BBC iPlayer radio app finally starts broadcasting on Android and Kindle devices (video)

BBC iPlayer's radio app finally starts broadcasting on Android and Kindle devices

While the iPhone didn't even have a built-in FM radio to replace, Android hardware from all the major players has started to forgo the radio tuner in the last few years. Fortunately, Beeb listeners (at least) can finally access the iPlayer radio app, which has made the leap across from iOS. Not only will you be able to install it on your Android smartphone, but also Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet series. The new app doesn't use Flash, given its absence on most up-to-date versions of Google's mobile OS, instead using HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) to deliver your weekly doses of Doctor Who.

Meanwhile, the radio app's design has been given a rethink for its Android debut, following the design and navigation notions of Google's homemade apps and hopefully making sense to any seasoned Android 4.0 user. The BBC's Executive Producer James Simcock explains exactly what's been done differently at the source, but if you're not a "reading" kind of... reader, there's a trailer after the break.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: BBC, BBC iPlayer radio (Google Play)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Gv9R3iQSx_s/

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Cinnamon challenge: Avoid this dangerous trend, say doctors

The cinnamon challenge, swallowing a spoonful of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without water, is both dangerous and increasingly popular. Doctors and others are urging teens not to take the cinnamon challenge.

By Lindsey Tanner,?Associated Press / April 22, 2013

Dejah Reed, an Ypsilanti, Mich., teen was hospitalized for a collapsed lung after trying the cinnamon challenge. A new report advises against taking the challenge that involves daring someone to swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without water.

Courtesy of Frederick Reed / AP

Enlarge

Don't take the cinnamon challenge. That's the advice from doctors in a new report about a dangerous prank depicted in popular YouTube videos but which has led to hospitalizations and a surge in calls to U.S. poison centers.

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The fad involves daring someone to swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without water. But the spice is caustic, and trying to gulp it down can cause choking and related problems, the report said.

At least 30 teens nationwide needed medical attention after taking the challenge last year, said the report, published online Monday in Pediatrics.

The number of poison control center calls about teens doing the prank "has increased dramatically," from 51 in 2011 to 222 last year, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

Thousands of YouTube videos depict kids attempting the challenge, resulting in an "orange burst of dragon breath" spewing out of their mouths and sometimes hysterical laughter from friends watching the stunt, said report co-author Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, a pediatrics professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Cinnamon is made from tree bark and contains cellulose fibers that don't easily break down. Dr. Stephen Pont, a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics and an Austin, Texas pediatrician, said the report is "a call to arms to parents and doctors to be aware of things like the cinnamon challenge" and to pay attention to what their kids are viewing online.

A teen whose lung collapsed after trying the cinnamon challenge heartily supports the new advice and started her own website ??http://nocinnamonchallenge.com?? telling teens to "just say no" to the fad.

Dejah Reed, 16, said she took the challenge four times. The final time was in February last year, with a friend who didn't want to try it alone.

"I was laughing very hard, and I coughed it out and I inhaled it into my lungs," she said. "I couldn't breathe."

Ms. Reed was hospitalized for four days and has had ongoing breathing problems, which she'd never experienced before. She said she'd read about the challenge on Facebook and other social networking sites and "thought it would be cool" to try.

Now Reed says, "It's not cool ? and it's dangerous."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/yfrkIWRxSnA/Cinnamon-challenge-Avoid-this-dangerous-trend-say-doctors

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