BERLIN (Reuters) ? German Chancellor Angela Merkel will use a planned visit to China this week to encourage Beijing to reduce its imports of Iranian oil, a German government source said on Tuesday.
Last week, the European Union agreed to ban from July 1 all imports of oil from Iran, OPEC's second largest producer, in a drive to pressure Tehran into reining in its nuclear activities.
"It is in German interests that China does not raise its imports (from Iran). It would be good if China would reduce its imports," the government source told a news briefing ahead of Merkel's trip to China that begins on Wednesday.
China has criticized the EU ban, saying it is "not a constructive approach."
Beijing, the world's second largest crude consumer, has long opposed unilateral sanctions that target Iran's energy sector and has tried to reduce tensions that could threaten its oil supply.
The 27-nation EU delayed until July the entry into force of the oil import ban because it also wants to avoid penalizing the ailing economies of Italy, Greece and others for whom Iran is a major oil supplier.
The EU strategy will be reviewed in May to see whether it should go ahead.
Western powers accuse Iran of planning to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes.
(Reporting by Matthias Sobolewski and Gareth Jones; editing by James Jukwey)
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? A large retrospective exhibition of Andy Warhol's artwork will tour five Asian cities over the next three years.
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh says the exhibit will be the pop art icon's largest ever in Asia. It will include more than 300 paintings, photographs, screen prints, drawings and sculptures.
The exhibit, Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal, will open in Singapore in March. It will head to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing in 2013 and Tokyo in 2014.
The tour marks the 25th anniversary of the acclaimed American artist's death. He died at age 58 from complications following gall bladder surgery.
Warhol's work includes silk screened images of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and detailed renderings of Campbell's Soup cans.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? Investigators on Sunday were trying to determine what motivated the driver of a sport utility vehicle to ignore a downed crossing arm and flashing lights and pull the vehicle into the path of an oncoming commuter train in Sacramento.
Three died after the Saturday afternoon collision south of downtown, including Damian Williams, a 21-month-old boy, county coroner's officials said.
One of the four people inside the Nissan Pathfinder remained in the hospital Sunday at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she was being treated for serious injuries.
Authorities also were trying to sort out the relationships of those involved and had not released the identities of the adults.
In addition to the toddler, the dead included a 25-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man, who was ejected from the Pathfinder when it was struck by the southbound light rail train traveling at 55 mph shortly after 4 p.m. The impact pushed the SUV about 30 yards down the track and flipped it.
Officer Laura Peck, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Police Department, said the woman taken to the hospital was the man's wife.
Investigators and officials with the Sacramento Regional Transit District said video from cameras mounted on the intersection showed the SUV drive around the crossing arms just before impact. That video and other pictures captured by a camera mounted on the train are part of the investigation and were not being released publicly, Peck said.
Witness accounts appear to support the video evidence that the crossing arms were down and warning lights were flashing when the SUV tried to get across the tracks.
Davis resident Ravin Pratab, 42, was in a car that was waiting to cross the tracks when he said he heard a loud bang and then "saw a light-rail train heading south with a big truck smashed on it."
Authorities said six of the roughly 50 passengers on the light rail train were taken to local hospitals but had only minor injuries.
On Sunday, the tracks were cleared and the intersection was open, with no sign of the previous day's collision. A white teddy bear was placed at the base of the pole holding the crossing arm, on the same side of the tracks where the SUV had been before it attempted to cross.
Regional transit officials said trains were operating on their regular schedule after a section of track was repaired Saturday night.
One question investigators are trying to answer is the length of time the crossing arms were down. The light rail train passed through the intersection after two Union Pacific freight trains, going in opposite directions and using different tracks, had passed by.
Neither Peck nor a spokeswoman for the transit district said they knew the length of the interval between the time the freight trains cleared the intersection and the commuter line came through. The light rail system has its own dedicated tracks.
Drivers in Sacramento often can wait up to 10 minutes for a freight train to pass, then might have to wait several minutes more because of an approaching light rail train. The extended wait times can be a source of irritation ? and missed appointments ? in California's capital.
Alane Masui, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Regional Transit District, said Sunday that determining the length of time the crossing arms were down and the interval between the trains was part of the ongoing investigation.
Sacramento's light rail system, started in 1987, carries an average of 50,000 passengers a day. On weekdays, it's packed with those commuting between the suburbs and state government jobs downtown.
Masui could not immediately say whether Saturday's collision was the deadliest in the system's history or how many collisions between light rail trains and vehicles had occurred in the past.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? A lawyer representing the mother of Connecticut guard Ryan Boatright says the family is considering legal options after the NCAA detailed its investigation into the freshman's eligibility.
The NCAA has cleared Boatright to play, but said Saturday he and his mother had accepted more than $8,000 in impermissible benefits from at least two people.
Attorney Scott Tompsett issued a statement Sunday calling the NCAA's news release false and misleading. He said the people providing the benefits were friends of the Boatright family and had "no expectation of repayment or reciprocation."
"And there's not a shred of evidence that they influenced Ryan's decision to attend UConn or that they intend to represent Ryan if he ever goes pro," he said. "The public also should know that the NCAA never told Tanesha and Ryan who made the accusations about them or told them the substance of the accusations so they could defend themselves."
Messages were left Sunday seeking comment from the NCAA.
Boatright has missed nine games this season as a result of the investigation, including a six-game suspension to start the season. He also is repaying $4,500 in benefits. He was held out of the last three games as the NCAA looked into additional information.
The NCAA said it allowed Boatright to return to action after determining he has lived up to an agreement that gave him limited immunity for cooperating in the investigation, and is "likely the least culpable" of those involved in the violations.
The 6-foot Boatright was back in uniform Sunday as UConn hosted Notre Dame. He received a standing ovation when he entered the game just under 4 minutes into the first half. His first points came on a runner in the lane at the halftime buzzer that gave UConn a 24-21 lead.
"Ryan and his mother Tanesha cooperated fully with the NCAA with the clear understanding that the information they provided would be kept confidential and would not be released to the public," Tompsett said. "The NCAA has violated the Boatrights' privacy by releasing their personal information."
Tompsett said he also has represented Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun in the past.
Before Tompsett's release, university President Susan Herbst issued a statement on Sunday praising Boatright's character.
"This young man has shown tremendous patience and poise all the while in the national spotlight," she said. "This is a strength of character that is seldom demanded of college freshmen and I am extraordinarily proud of him, our team and our coaching staff."
Connecticut went 6-3 this season with Boatright out of the lineup, but dropped two of three when he was forced to sit out a second time. The Huskies (14-5, 4-3 Big East) won at Notre Dame, snapping the Irish's 29-game home-court winning streak, before losing consecutive games to Cincinnati and Tennessee, each by three points.
The NCAA said the benefits included car payments, travel expenses for his mother during four official visits to NCAA schools, and approximately $1,200.
"In addition, Mr. Boatright was provided travel expenses, hotel, meals and training expenses during a two-night trip to California," the organization said.
The NCAA said the benefits came from at least two people with links to "nonscholastic basketball and professional sports."
Several news organizations, including ESPN and The New York Times, had previously reported that a plane ticket was purchased for Boatright's mother by Reggie Rose, who runs the AAU team for which Boatright played. Rose, the brother of NBA star Derrick Rose, has declined to comment on the case.
Boatright averaged more than 10 points and three assists in the 10 games he played after being reinstated to the team.
Though a 101-year-old evicted Detroit woman has been taken in by a good Samaritan, she still needs more help to get by.
After the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development deemed Texana Hollis' foreclosed home too unsafe for her to live there, a church member, Pollian Cheeks, invited the Detroit native to stay with her. While Hollis now has a roof over her head, she still needs to replace her belongings that were trashed when she was evicted and to make the home where she's staying wheelchair accessible.
"I don't know what happened," Hollis told UPI.com. "Lord knows, I don?t know what happened."
But some donations have already started pouring in.
A local contracting company offered to install a wheelchair ramp and Cheeks has set up a fund for people to donate to Hollis' cause, the news outlet reported.
"Lord, yes, I had no idea in the world so many people was thinking about little old me," Hollis told The Detroit Free Press. "It's just a blessing, I'm telling you."
Want to help Texana Hollis? Send your donations to P.O. Box 4270, Detroit, Mich., 48204.
People gather at the scene of a car bomb attack in Zafaraniyah, Baghdad, on Friday.
By msnbc.com staff and news services
Updated at 4:46 a.m.: The blast outside a hospital struck a funeral procession for Mohammed al-Maliki, a real estate agent who was killed with his wife and son on Thursday, a doctor and interior ministry official tells AFP news agency. Both speak on condition of anonymity.
Published at 4:17 a.m.: BAGHDAD -- Twenty-six people were killed on Friday when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car in southeastern Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
The attack occurred at 11:00 a.m. (3:00 a.m. ET) in the Iraqi capital's predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah, police said. They said 53 people were wounded in the attack.
Hospital officials confirmed the death toll to The Associated Press.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Insurgents have stepped up violence in Iraq since the U.S. military withdrawal last month. More than 200 people have been killed since the beginning of the year.
Msnbc.com staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
PASADENA, Calif.A key feature of human and animal brains is that they are adaptive; they are able to change their structure and function based on input from the environment and on the potential associations, or consequences, of that input. For example, if a person puts his hand in a fire and gets burned, he learns to avoid flames; the simple sight of a flame has acquired a predictive value, which in this case, is repulsive. To learn more about such neural adaptability, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have explored the brains of insects and identified a mechanism by which the connections in their brain change to form new and specific memories of smells.
"Although these results were obtained from experiments with insects, the components of the mechanism exist also in vertebrate, including mammalian, brains which means that what we describe may be of wide applicability," says Stijn Cassenaer, a Broad Senior Research Fellow in brain circuitry at Caltech and lead author of a paperpublished in the journal Nature on January 25that outlined the findings. The study focused on insects because their nervous systems are smaller, and thus likely to reveal their secrets sooner than those of their vertebrate counterparts.
To home in on sensory memories, the researchers concentrated on olfaction, or the sense of smell. When a person encounters a favorite food or the perfume of a loved one, she will typically experience a recall, usually positive, based on the memories evoked by those smells. Such a recallto a smell, sound, taste, or any other sensory stimulusis evidence of "associative" learning, says Gilles Laurent, a former professor of biology at Caltech and senior author of the study, as learning often means assigning a value, such as beneficial or not, to inputs that were until then neutral. The original, neutral stimulus acquires significance as a result of being paired, or associated, with a reinforcing reward or punishmentin this case, the pleasant emotion recalled by a smell.
"When we learn that a particular sensory stimulus predicts a reward, there is general agreement that this knowledge is stored by changing the connections between particular neurons," explains Cassenaer. The problem, however, is that the biological signals that represent value (positive or negative) are broadcast nonspecifically throughout the brain. How then, are they assigned specifically to particular connections, so that a certain sensory input, until then neutral, acquires its new, predictive value? "In this study, we carried out experiments to investigate how the brain identifies exactly which connections, out of an enormously large number of possibilities, should be changed to store the memory of a specific association."
To get a closer look at these connections, Cassenaer and Laurentwho is now director at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Germanymeasured neural activity in an area of the locust brain where olfactory memories are thought to be stored. They found that what allows the brain to identify which synapses should be modified, and thus where the nonspecific reward signal should act, is a very transient synchronization between pairs of connected neurons.
"When pairs of connected neurons fire in quick succession, the strength of their connection can be altered. This phenomenon, called spike-timing dependent plasticity, has been known for many years. What is new, however, is recognizing that it also makes these connections sensitive to an internal signal released in response to a reward," says Cassenaer. "If no reward is encountered, the cells' sensitivity fades. However, if the sensory stimulus is followed by a reward within a certain time window, then these connections are the only ones altered by the internal reward signal. All other connections remain unaffected."
Laurent says that the molecular underpinnings of this phenomenon, as well as the process by which the stored memories are later read out, are an area of much-needed exploration.
"We are currently developing the necessary tools to examine this with sufficient specificity, which will allow us to evaluate animals' behavior as they learn," says Cassenaer.
###
The study, "Conditional modulation of spike-timing-dependent plasticity for olfactory learning," was funded by the Lawrence Hanson Chair at Caltech, the National Institutes on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, Caltech's Broad Fellows Program, the Office of Naval Research, and the Max Planck Society.
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Making sense of sensory connectionsPublic release date: 26-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges debwms@caltech.edu 626-395-3227 California Institute of Technology
PASADENA, Calif.A key feature of human and animal brains is that they are adaptive; they are able to change their structure and function based on input from the environment and on the potential associations, or consequences, of that input. For example, if a person puts his hand in a fire and gets burned, he learns to avoid flames; the simple sight of a flame has acquired a predictive value, which in this case, is repulsive. To learn more about such neural adaptability, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have explored the brains of insects and identified a mechanism by which the connections in their brain change to form new and specific memories of smells.
"Although these results were obtained from experiments with insects, the components of the mechanism exist also in vertebrate, including mammalian, brains which means that what we describe may be of wide applicability," says Stijn Cassenaer, a Broad Senior Research Fellow in brain circuitry at Caltech and lead author of a paperpublished in the journal Nature on January 25that outlined the findings. The study focused on insects because their nervous systems are smaller, and thus likely to reveal their secrets sooner than those of their vertebrate counterparts.
To home in on sensory memories, the researchers concentrated on olfaction, or the sense of smell. When a person encounters a favorite food or the perfume of a loved one, she will typically experience a recall, usually positive, based on the memories evoked by those smells. Such a recallto a smell, sound, taste, or any other sensory stimulusis evidence of "associative" learning, says Gilles Laurent, a former professor of biology at Caltech and senior author of the study, as learning often means assigning a value, such as beneficial or not, to inputs that were until then neutral. The original, neutral stimulus acquires significance as a result of being paired, or associated, with a reinforcing reward or punishmentin this case, the pleasant emotion recalled by a smell.
"When we learn that a particular sensory stimulus predicts a reward, there is general agreement that this knowledge is stored by changing the connections between particular neurons," explains Cassenaer. The problem, however, is that the biological signals that represent value (positive or negative) are broadcast nonspecifically throughout the brain. How then, are they assigned specifically to particular connections, so that a certain sensory input, until then neutral, acquires its new, predictive value? "In this study, we carried out experiments to investigate how the brain identifies exactly which connections, out of an enormously large number of possibilities, should be changed to store the memory of a specific association."
To get a closer look at these connections, Cassenaer and Laurentwho is now director at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Germanymeasured neural activity in an area of the locust brain where olfactory memories are thought to be stored. They found that what allows the brain to identify which synapses should be modified, and thus where the nonspecific reward signal should act, is a very transient synchronization between pairs of connected neurons.
"When pairs of connected neurons fire in quick succession, the strength of their connection can be altered. This phenomenon, called spike-timing dependent plasticity, has been known for many years. What is new, however, is recognizing that it also makes these connections sensitive to an internal signal released in response to a reward," says Cassenaer. "If no reward is encountered, the cells' sensitivity fades. However, if the sensory stimulus is followed by a reward within a certain time window, then these connections are the only ones altered by the internal reward signal. All other connections remain unaffected."
Laurent says that the molecular underpinnings of this phenomenon, as well as the process by which the stored memories are later read out, are an area of much-needed exploration.
"We are currently developing the necessary tools to examine this with sufficient specificity, which will allow us to evaluate animals' behavior as they learn," says Cassenaer.
###
The study, "Conditional modulation of spike-timing-dependent plasticity for olfactory learning," was funded by the Lawrence Hanson Chair at Caltech, the National Institutes on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, Caltech's Broad Fellows Program, the Office of Naval Research, and the Max Planck Society.
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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.
North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue wears a Freightliner hat as she smiles during a news conference at a Freightliner plant in Cleveland, N.C., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. About 1,100 workers laid off from a factory that builds long-distance Freightliner trucks will be called back to work to meet increasing demand as economies in the U.S. and elsewhere improve, Daimler Trucks North America said Thursday. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue wears a Freightliner hat as she smiles during a news conference at a Freightliner plant in Cleveland, N.C., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. About 1,100 workers laid off from a factory that builds long-distance Freightliner trucks will be called back to work to meet increasing demand as economies in the U.S. and elsewhere improve, Daimler Trucks North America said Thursday. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue, facing a hard fight for a second term, will not seek re-election, a Democratic official said Thursday.
The first woman elected governor in North Carolina history, Perdue faced a potential rematch against former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican whom she narrowly defeated in 2008 in the state's closest gubernatorial contest since 1972. Perdue's win was partly attributed to Barack Obama's surprise win in North Carolina.
Perdue was expected to make a formal announcement later Thursday, according to a Democratic official, who requested anonymity in order to discuss the governor's decision.
News of Perdue's decision came as North Carolina Democratic Rep. Brad Miller said he also would not seek re-election, avoiding a potential primary contest against fellow Democrat David Price after the Republican-controlled Legislature drew them into the same district.
North Carolina is considered an important state for Obama's re-election prospects and Democrats decided to hold the party convention in Charlotte in September.
Perdue has struggled with a state economy hit hard by the recession and an unemployment rate persistently above the national average. Polling conducted throughout her term has consistently shown her approval ratings hovering around 40 percent.
The first-term governor has clashed with the new Republican leadership in the General Assembly, which swept into power after the 2010 elections and gave GOP control of the Legislature for the first time since the 1870s. Perdue has traded jabs with Republican leaders on issues ranging from jobless benefits to a measure allowing death row inmates to use statistical evidence of racial bias to challenge their convictions. In a sign of the tension, she vetoed a record 16 bills last year.
A native of New Bern, N.C., Perdue worked as a teacher and director of geriatric services at a hospital in her home town before entering politics. She served in the Legislature and as lieutenant governor before being elected governor.
___
Associated Press writer Tom Breen in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON ? The Federal Reserve's announcement that it is unlikely to raise its benchmark interest rate until late 2014 is simply its "best guess," Ben Bernanke said Wednesday.
The Fed chairman made clear during a news conference Wednesday that the decision to leave interest rates unchanged for three more years was not ironclad.
The central bank's ability to forecast that far out is limited, Bernanke says, and the Fed could adjust the timetable for when it will raise rates if economic conditions change.
Still, he said the U.S. economy remains weak and all signs suggest the Fed won't change its record-low rate for another three years.
"We have to make a best guess," Bernanke said after the Fed concluded its two-day policy meeting. "Unless there is a substantial strengthening of the economy in the near term, I would think that it's a pretty good guess that we will be keeping rates low for some time from now."
The central bank has kept its key rate at a record low near zero for three years.
Bernanke also said the Fed has not ruled out bolder steps to boost economic growth, such as a third round of bond purchases.
"If inflation is going to remain below target for an extended period and unemployment progress is very slow ... there is a case for additional policy action," he said.
"I would not say we are out of ammunition. We still have tools."
Prior to the news conference, the Fed slightly reduced its outlook for U.S. economic growth this year. It forecasts the economy to grow between 2.2 percent and 2.7 percent in 2012, according to its updated economic forecasts. That's down from November's forecast of between 2.5 percent and 2.9 percent.
Many economists expect Europe will suffer a recession this year, which will slow U.S. growth.
Still, the Fed said it expects unemployment to fall as low as 8.2 percent. That's an improvement from November's forecast of 8.5 percent. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December after the sixth straight month of solid hiring.
Inflation has been relatively tame and the Fed doesn't see that changing over the next three years.
The Fed's policies have made Bernanke a popular target for Republican presidential hopefuls. Several have criticized Bernanke for raising the risk of higher inflation.
Bernanke refused to answer a question asking whether he would resign if one of his critics wins the November election.
"I'm not going to get involved in political rhetoric," Bernanke said. "I have a job to do and as long as I'm here I will do everything I can to help the Federal Reserve. ... That's my answer."
Breakout Boost: This arcade classic is now enhanced with improved graphics and deeper gameplay features such as power ups, unique brick types, and Boost Control! The faster your ball goes,
Despite Mountain View's efforts to the contrary, neither Google Wallet nor Offers, have yet to set the payment sector alight. That doesn't mean the search giant's throwing in the towel, as it vehemently expands the latter into five additional cities here in the United States. Residents of Charlotte, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Tampa will soon be able to participate in all sorts of discounted debauchery, joining bargain-hunters in the service's existing 33 locales. Those eager ought to hit the source links to begin, but before leaving, regale us with an outrageous tale involving a discount in the comments below.
One day, every human will be enhanced with advanced technology. Today, you can give that future a try by downloading the fresh Half Breed.
For more privacy and safety, try Comodo Mobile Security Free AV and, for fun, check out Osmos HD and Super Bit Dash.
Still haven?t downloaded any security software to your Android? Don?t come crying to me when something bad happens; I?ve been warning you for a while now.
This security app provides ?one touch? virus scans and the ability to schedule virus scans for any future convenient time. The scans cover every file and app you?ve downloaded and a ?health check? feature even looks for unsafe settings. Block annoying text messages by keyword or set up a ?private area? on your phone for contacts, phone numbers and text messages that no one else will be able to see, even if they borrow your phone.
Just after yoga class, a first-person shooter game probably won?t be top of your mind. Enter the chill-out hit Osmos HD.
You?re a single celled organism called a ?mote? and, to survive, you must start absorbing smaller motes by propelling yourself around the screen. Beware of other species that will end your peaceful existence, so keep floating along to the peaceful, ambient soundtrack.
You were born from a military experiment and you live as a ?half breed? ? half human, half alien. Now, you?re out for revenge against your creators. On their side is a bulk of advanced weapons and an obstacle-filled military complex. On your side are your special alien powers and weapons and your clever human mind that knows how to use them to strategic advantage.
Blast your way deeper and deeper into the compound with the death rays emanating from your finger tips or run and climb over every challenge the bad guys thrown into your path.
Are you old enough to remember simple 8-bit graphics? Return to the thrilling days of yesteryear with this side scrolling platform game. Run like heck over through the platform maze and collect as many coins as you can. Modern swipe movements control how fast you run and how high you jump. The further you run, the more characters you unlock. Maybe if you run fast enough, you?ll get back to the future.
TAMPA, Fla. ? Fresh off a big win in South Carolina, Republican Newt Gingrich found himself on defense Monday as the volatile GOP presidential contest shifted to Florida.
The former House speaker answered critics who questioned his temperament by saying he would be a nominee who would "shake up Washington." He also accused chief rival Mitt Romney of misstating his dealings with mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
Appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America" hours before a campaign rally in Tampa, Gingrich basked in his come-from-behind triumph in South Carolina. His win made for three different winners in the first three states, with former Sen. Rick Santorum winning Iowa and Romney taking New Hampshire.
Gingrich's campaign said it had raked in $1 million in the first 24 hours since South Carolina's primary Saturday.
Frequently the aggressor in the race, Gingrich is taking fire from all sides now as Florida campaigning ramps up ahead of the pivotal Jan. 31 primary.
Romney has been calling Gingrich a lobbyist and demanded that he release consulting contracts related to Freddie Mac. Gingrich flatly denied lobbying on the firm's behalf.
"It's not true. He knows it's not true. He's deliberately saying things he knows are false," Gingrich said. "I just think that's what the next week will be like.
The battle over financial transparency has gone both ways.
For weeks, Gingrich demanded that Romney release his personal tax records. The businessman and former Massachusetts governor now says he will.
Gingrich told ABC he has campaign lawyers working to make Freddie Mac records public; he said the decision rests with the Center for Health Transformation, which he founded but no longer owns. Two former Gingrich companies earned $1.6 million over eight years from Freddie Mac. Gingrich has said he only earned about $35,000 a year himself.
Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac has come under scrutiny because of its role in the housing meltdown.
On Sunday, some Republican leaders voiced worry about Gingrich's combative style.
He acknowledged Monday that some key players in the party don't want to see him win the nomination, but he also seems to be enjoying the attention.
"I think you're going to see the establishment go crazy in the next week or two," Gingrich said.
A refugee from Uzbekistan has been arrested in Chicago and charged with providing support to a suspected Islamic terrorist group that U.S. authorities say is seeking to overthrow the secular government of his Central Asian home country.
Jasmshid Muhtorov, 35, who resides in Colorado, was taken into custody on Saturday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport by FBI agents and made his initial court appearance in federal court on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department said.
A criminal complaint charging him with providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization was unsealed on Monday in federal court in Denver.
Court documents filed in the case said Muhtorov indicated that he planned to travel overseas to fight on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based extremist group that opposes secular rule in Uzbekistan and seeks to replace the current regime there with a government based on Islamic law.
Federal prosecutors said his arrest, capping a "long-term investigation," highlights "the continued interest of extremists residing in the United States to join and support overseas terrorists."
If convicted of the charge against him, Muhtorov faces up to 15 years in prison.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Once upon a time, a typical gift for a child was a set of blocks. Plain old blocks with no batteries or screens, no electronic voice asking to be friends, no game of Angry Birds somehow embedded in their cubic walls.
No longer.
As anyone who braved toy stores this past holiday season knows, the bulk of gear for children these days is far more technologically decked out, with everything from flashing lights to 3-D computer screens to disembodied voices. And this, say child development experts, is turning into a massive problem.
RELATED: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect
High-stimuli toys, even many of those advertised as "educational" or "interactive," actually serve to diminish children's creativity, many experts say. Instead of using their minds to imagine how to use a toy ? how to build a castle with blocks, say ? they simply push a button or watch a flashing light. The toy is doing the work, which is the reverse of what researchers say is ideal.
"The best toy is 90 percent child and 10 percent toy," says Susan Linn, a Harvard University psychiatry instructor and cofounder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "The [perfect] toy's meaning and its use changes at the child's behest."
At the same time, a large percentage of children's toys are based on media characters ? Transformers, for instance, were top sellers this past holiday season. The problem with this, says Diane Levin, an education professor at Wheelock College in Boston, is that when a child plays with a toy that already has a character description, the play tends to be limited; the child doesn't invent the figure's personality or actions because those characteristics are already determined.
"Play material is very important," Ms. Levin says. "When they have something that is just something they saw on TV, they will use it the same way. They will imitate."
And of course, there is the issue of screen time. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 8-to-18-year-olds now spend 7.5 hours a day in front of one or more screens. This, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, is too much. It recommends no screen time for children 2 years old and younger, and no more than two hours a day for older ones.
But some top-selling toys this past season ? including infant toys ? were screen-based. (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment named a tablet computer for babies the worst toy of the year; a similar device was in the Toys "R" Us Top 15 Christmas gifts for 2011.)
Many of these screen toys advertise themselves as educational, tapping into parents' desire to help children get ahead in a technologically focused world. In a December Monitor TIPP poll, for instance, two- thirds of Americans agreed with the statement "the earlier a child can use technology, the better off he or she will be." Yet numerous studies have found no educational benefit ? and possibly some harm ? in early screen time.
It comes down, child advocates say, to money.
"One of the reasons that creative play has been diminishing in the United States is that it's not lucrative," Dr. Linn says. "Companies make less money when children play creatively. Children who play creatively need less stuff, and they can use the same thing over and over again ? mud, water, blocks, dolls that don't do anything."
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - The scores look absolutely ridiculous. 14-0. 13-0. The two most lopsided wins in the history of the U.S. women's soccer team. One of the few lively things about the second game was the constant chant of "Ju-das" directed at the player who scored five second-half goals.
The United States took it to Guatemala 13-0 Sunday to clinch a berth in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the London Olympics. It was a great game for statisticians and for those who think the Americans need to learn to chill when they have a big lead.
Nothing doing. Not as long as the stunning loss to Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in late 2010 remains fresh on their minds.
"We understand that 14-, 13-goal games can be looked down upon by some of our viewers, our fans, by fans of other countries," said Abby Wambach, who scored twice in the first half. "But the truth is we didn't get our job done the last qualifying tournament, and this is a statement that we're making to the rest of the world, we're making to our region, and we can't take any game for granted. We have to play hard, play physical and respect the game. That's why the results are the results you've seen."
Wambach moved into third on the career goals list for women's international soccer with 129, ahead of Germany's Birgit Prinz (128) and behind only Mia Hamm (158) and Kristine Lilly (130). The only active player in the 31-year-old forward's range is Canada's Christine Sinclair with 125 - including five in this tournament.
On pace to catch her in a hurry - if Sunday is any indication - is newcomer Sydney Leroux, who replaced Wambach at halftime and scored five goals in just her second cap with the U.S. team. Leroux was born and raised in Vancouver area but has an American father and has opted to play for the U.S. over Canada, prompting the boos and the "Judas" chants from some of the locals whenever she touched the ball.
"I know that there are some people who don't respect my decision," Leroux said. "And there are some people who do. And not everyone's going to like you, and I feel like you have to have some enemies in life or else you're not doing something right. I'm happy where I am. I'm happy to wear this jersey, and that's how it is."
Leroux's five-spot ties her with Wambach, Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Tiffeny Milbrett and Amy Rodriguez for the most goals by a U.S. player in a game. Rodriguez accomplished the feat in the 14-0 win over the Dominican Republic on Friday, also as a second-half substitute.
Leroux's goals came in the 48th, 51st, 57th, 70th and 87th minutes. She is the only member of the roster who didn't play for the U.S. in last year's World Cup.
"I heard that some people were booing me," Leroux said. "But then I think after the fourth goal they stopped."
When told they didn't, she answered: "No? Well, they should've."
The big wins provided the Americans a comfortable goal-differential cushion that will allow them to win their group even if they tie their final group game, a much-anticipated rematch against Mexico on Tuesday. The Mexicans have outscored their opponents 12-0 after two games, including a 7-0 win over the Dominican Republic on Sunday.
Sunday's games capped four days of noncompetitive soccer, with the top four teams at the tournament outscoring the bottom four by a combined score of 51-0. Now come the matchups that truly matter: Canada-Costa Rica on Monday, followed by U.S.-Mexico the next day to determine the winners of the respective groups - and the matchups for the do-or-die semifinals that will produce the two teams headed to London.
It was at the semifinal stage that the Americans stumbled against Mexico in 2010, forcing the U.S., the top-ranked team in the world, into a playoff just to get into the World Cup in Germany.
Looking to rest some of her top players for the upcoming games, Sundhage made six changes to the starting lineup from Friday's game. One of the changes, of course, involved defender Ali Krieger, who tore ligaments in her right knee against the Dominicans and is likely out for the Olympics.
Lori Lindsey got her first U.S. goal with a header in the 34th minute. Also in on the scoring were Lauren Cheney (24th), Rodriguez (29th), Carli Lloyd (33rd), Megan Rapinoe (75th) and Alex Morgan (83rd).
Wambach's goals looked effortless against an overmatched Guatemalan team that routinely left players unmarked in the box. All she needed was a casual tap to beat goalkeeper Maricruz Lemus in the 12th minute after a lead pass from Rapinoe, and she had plenty of open net to head down Cheney's free kick two minutes later and move ahead of Prinz - a player Wambach once thought she would never catch.
"That's true - I didn't. And I'm shocked that I have," Wambach said. "The later on in our career, the stats do start piling up, and the awards come and all of it, but the truth is our team is playing well right now."
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Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
'Hugo'. Charming, touching, and simply beautiful. Thank you, Martin Scorsese, for a wonderful love letter to films and purpose.Asa Butterfield's Hugo Cabret had me caring for him from the first minute, and brings a huge amount of heart to the central character of this story. He's a lonely kid trying to find his place in the world, and I really felt for him. Film for Hugo is a chance to see dreams and the fantastical come alive, while at the same time providing a way to escape and forget, though it subsequently acts to reminisce Every mention of his father had the 3D getting a little blurry.The emotional punch isn't limited to Hugo though. Ben Kingsley delivers a fine supporting performance as Georges Melies, and the resolution of his secondary, but intertwined plot, impacts in an equally big way.Sacha Baron Cohen's Station Inspector is a barrel of laughs, especially his vernacular when it comes to insulting the various characters of the station, and Chloe Moretz shines once again.Being so passionate about movies, the Melies storyline and history carried even greater meaning to me, as I've recently been listening to Raphael Shargel's 'Understanding Movies', with the first chapter being devoted to the Lumiere brothers and Georges Melies. Getting more of the history behind, and actually seeing works such as 'Arrival of a Train' and 'A Trip to the Moon' had me invested that little bit more.This would make a perfect double feature with 'Cinema Paradiso'!
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Clint Eastwood's longtime editor Joel Cox and TV veteran Doug Ibold will receive Lifetime Career Achievement Awards from the American Cinema Editors on February 18, ACE announced on Thursday.
The awards will be given to Cox and Ibold at the 62nd annual ACE Eddie Awards, which will take place in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and will be hosted by Patton Oswalt.
Eastwood will present the award to Cox, while television producer Dick Wolf will present the honor to Ibold.
Cox has worked with Eastwood for more than 35 years and more than 30 movies, including "Million Dollar Baby," "J. Edgar," "Gran Torino," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "The Bridges of Madison County," "Sudden Impact" and "Unforgiven," for which he won an Academy Award.
His collaborations with Eastwood began when he served as assistant editor on "The Outlaw Josey Wales" in 1975.
Ibold has worked in television for more than 40 years, including runs on the long-running series "Miami Vice," "Law & Order," "Magnum P.I." and "Walker, Texas Ranger."
As a founder of the production company Butterfly Films, he also worked with John Lennon as he was recording "Imagine," and the Rolling Stones when they toured to support the album "Exile on Main Street."
ACE will announce its Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year next week.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The United States said on Friday it was appealing a World Trade Organization ruling against U.S. dolphin-safe labeling measures for tuna in a longrunning spat with Mexico closely watched by environmentalists.
"Our dolphin-safe labeling measures for tuna products provide information for American consumers as they make food purchasing decisions for their families," said Andrea Mead, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative.
"Our decision to appeal the WTO ruling in this case demonstrates the commitment of the United States to our dolphin-safe labeling measures," Mead said in a statement.
Under the United States' dolphin-safe labeling provisions, producers of tuna products - whether foreign or domestic - have the option of labeling tuna products that meet the standards of the U.S. provisions as dolphin safe, USTR said.
One such condition, challenged by Mexico, is that the label cannot be used if dolphins are purposefully chased and encircled in order to catch tuna. Some Mexican fishing vessels use this method when fishing for tuna.
The United States has argued the matter should be addressed through dispute settlement proceedings of the North American Free Trade Agreement, rather than the WTO.
However, Mexico has preferred to go through the Geneva-based world trade body.
If the United States loses the appeal, it could require to amend its dolphin-safe labeling laws or face possible Mexican trade sanctions.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer, Editing by Doina Chiacu)
A scanning electron microscope picture of a cancer cell. Uncredited photo from Wikimedia Commons
BLOOMFIELD HILLS ? Sky Foundation Inc., a?nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and funding research for the early detection of pancreatic cancer, Wednesday announced it raised about?$111,000 in 2011, bringing the total raised since its inception in 2008 to nearly $340,000.
Sky Foundation funds a scientific and physician partnership between the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Henry Ford Health System and Wayne State University. The foundation?s goal is to fund research to develop an advanced blood screening test identifying antibodies indicating a malignancy in the pancreas. The antibodies will be used as diagnostic markers that aid in the early detection of pancreatic cancer.
Sky Foundation raised the money in a variety of ways: at its annual brunch in November, and through individual gifts, memorial donations, and smaller fundraisers.
Also in 2011, Sky Foundation funded two blood draw events as part of a clinical research study by Henry Ford Health System and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute to develop a rapid and inexpensive blood screening test for the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. In early 2012, it began funding a research study of blood serum specimens obtained at the time of endoscopic ultrasound, a procedure used to diagnosis pancreatic cancer.
?I am thrilled that we are able to fund these two very important components of the research project, and I am hopeful this means that very soon we?ll have the test to detect pancreatic cancer at an early stage,? said foundation founder Sheila Sky Kasselman.
The Sky Foundation research team consists of Michael Tainsky, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University; Steven Dudas, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Ann Silverman, M.D., War Memorial Hospital, Sault Ste. Marie; Osama H. Alaradi, M.D., Henry Ford Health System; Robert Pompa, M.D., Henry Ford Health System; M. Margaret French, RN, Henry Ford Health System
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.skyfoundationinc.org.
It's a lot easier to keep a customer than to get a new one, at least that's how the sales force maxim goes. So what then does the newly released J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Retention Study say about the automotive brands and their ability to sell the same customer another car.
For starters, something incredibly positive is happening at Hyundai - just two years ago, Hyundai was below the industry average in customer retention - now the Korean brand has flown past Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Lexus, Infiniti and Acura to become the stickiest brand in the business, with a healthy margin of 4% to Ford and Honda.
The reasons a car owner switches brands make fascinating reading. Though the primary reason given for switching brands was that the previous brand didn't offer the type of vehicle they wanted (one in three "switchers") the underlying reason for most switches is undoubtedly dissatisfaction with the previous vehicle. Maybe it was too many problems with the car, or that it was too costly to run and maintain, or that the car had poor resale value.
The J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Customer Retention Study is now in its ninth year, and measures the rate at which automotive brands retain their existing customers, the reasons why customers remain loyal, and the rate at which automotive brands capture customers from competitors.
The 2012 study is based on responses from 117,000 new-vehicle buyers and lessees, of which 73,733 replaced a vehicle that was previously acquired new. The industry's average brand customer retention rate improved marginally this year (by one percentage point) to 49 percent.
In 2012, 19 of the 33 ranked brands have improved their customer retention rates from 2010, while 14 have declined. Just to get a clearer picture, we put all the numbers together for 2009 too, to see which brands are winning and which ones are leaking customers over the last three years.
What was most surprising was the performance of both of the big Korean brands. Hyundai improved from 47% in 2009 to an industry-topping 64% this year, but its improvement was beaten by Kia, which scored just 37% in 2009 and this year slotted into equal fourth with 59%, way ahead of all the well known brands which claim to sell a way of life to their customers.
Several other brands improved dramatically over the three year period from the 2009 survey - Land Rover from 25% to 47% (an increase of 22% in raw numbers but effectively almost a doubling of retention), Nissan's prestige brand Infiniti from 25% to 46% and Jeep which improved from 34% in 2009 to 51% this survey.
Looking at the figures over a slightly longer time frame also enables trends to be clearly seen, and the biggest take-out from the survey has got to be the abyssmal perfromance of Dodge which had a similar customer retention rate to Hyundai just three years ago (43% v 47%), and has slipped to just 21% today, doubling the company's customer bleed rate in just a few years.
Equally as intriguing was the poor performance of normal stellar perfromers in Mercedes-Benz, Subaru and Porsche which all lost 9% during the three year period. The study also noted some interesting points. Women and younger vehicle owners (aged 23 to 47) are less likely to choose the same vehicle brand for their next purchase.
"Women and younger vehicle owners are more likely to experience changes in their life circumstances, including growth in household size or changes in income levels, that would lead them to purchase vehicles that better accommodate their new lifestyle," said Raffi Festekjian, director of automotive product research at J.D. Power and Associates.
Brands that perform particularly well in retaining women customers include Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Mercedes-Benz. Among vehicle owners in the Generation Y and Generation X demographics, Ford, Kia, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz perform particularly well in customer retention.
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Exclusive: Liam Fox Returns for Senior Trade Union Role: Guido hears that the Trade Union Reform Campaign will a... bit.ly/wDEdTEIl y a environ 1 heurevia twitterfeedRetweeted by 5 people
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Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
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Still haven?t downloaded any security software to your Android? Don?t come crying to me when something bad happens; I?ve been warning you for a while now.
Just after yoga class, a first-person shooter game probably won?t be top of your mind. Enter the chill-out hit Osmos HD.
You were born from a military experiment and you live as a ?half breed? ? half human, half alien. Now, you?re out for revenge against your creators. On their side is a bulk of advanced weapons and an obstacle-filled military complex. On your side are your special alien powers and weapons and your clever human mind that knows how to use them to strategic advantage.
Are you old enough to remember simple 8-bit graphics? Return to the thrilling days of yesteryear with this side scrolling platform game. Run like heck over through the platform maze and collect as many coins as you can. Modern swipe movements control how fast you run and how high you jump. The further you run, the more characters you unlock. Maybe if you run fast enough, you?ll get back to the future.
GuidoFawkes