Britain strips ex-RBS boss Goodwin of his knighthood (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Britain took the rare step of stripping former Royal Bank of Scotland chief Fred Goodwin of his knighthood, following intense criticism of his role in RBS' near-collapse during the 2008 credit crisis, and public anger towards wealthy bankers.

"The failure of RBS played an important role in the financial crisis of 2008-9 which, together with other macroeconomic factors, triggered the worst recession in the UK since the Second World War and imposed significant direct costs on British taxpayers and businesses," the government said in a statement.

"Fred Goodwin was the dominant decision maker at RBS at the time," it added, explaining a decision taken by a committee of civil servants.

Goodwin had been awarded the knighthood in 2004 for services to banking, but has since come under heavy criticism from the public after taxpayer funds were used to bail out the stricken bank.

The government said it would soon be announced that Goodwin's knighthood had been "cancelled and annulled".

The Scottish banker spearheaded RBS' disastrous acquisition of Dutch bank ABN AMRO, which nearly caused the collapse of RBS during the 2008 crisis.

RBS ended up having to be propped up with 45 billion pounds ($71 billion) of taxpayers' money, with the government finishing up with an 83 percent stake in the bank.

It is very rare for Britain to remove people of their knighthoods, and Goodwin joins the ranks of figures such as former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu who forfeited an honorary knighthood.

The woes of RBS have come to symbolize for many in Britain more serious problems with the country's banking industry.

Many are still angry at the fact that bankers are continuing to get paid millions while elsewhere thousands lose their jobs as the economy weakens.

On Sunday, the current chief executive of RBS - Stephen Hester - was forced to decline a million pound share bonus after the award had been attacked by all major British political parties.

($1 = 0.6337 British pounds)

(Reporting by Matt Falloon, Mohammed Abbas and Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/wl_nm/us_britain_rbs_knighthood

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Snedeker wins playoff after Stanley meltdown (AP)

SAN DIEGO ? Kyle Stanley was so good for 71 holes at Torrey Pines that his performance drew comparisons with Tiger Woods.

When it was over, he was mentioned in the same breath as Jean Van de Velde.

Brandt Snedeker won the Farmers Insurance Open in a playoff that never seemed possible when Stanley, who led by seven shots early in the final round, hit a sand wedge into the water and three-putted for triple bogey on the 18th hole.

"It's not a hard golf hole," Stanley said, his eyes glassy from tears. "I could probably play it a thousand times and never make an 8."

The playoff ended on the second extra hole when Snedeker, after his 5-iron bounced off a TV tower behind the par-3 16th green that kept it from going into the canyon, chipped to 5 feet and saved par.

Stanley three-putted from 45 feet, missing a 5-footer for par.

"It's just crazy," Snedeker said. "To get my mind around what happened the last 30 minutes is pretty hard to do right now. My heart is out to Kyle. I feel bad for him to have to go through this."

Crazy doesn't begin to describe it.

Stanley was so dominant at Torrey Pines that he had a six-shot lead when he made the turn at 21-under par, just one shot from the tournament record last set by Woods in 1999 before the South Course was beefed up for the 2008 U.S. Open.

Snedeker was so certain of being the runner-up that after a tap-in birdie on the par-5 18th for a 5-under 67, he got in a cart and drove up the hill to the media center for an interview. He settled into his chair and looked over at the television, where Stanley was in the 18th fairway, 77 yards from the hole.

Stanley could have taken five shots from there and still captured his first PGA Tour event.

"I knew I needed to shoot something low," Snedeker said, one eye on the TV. "But I just was too far back. Kyle had too big a lead."

Just then, Stanley's wedge landed behind the hole and zipped off the green, tumbling slowly down the bank and into the water.

"Uh-oh," Snedeker said, before he started doing some math.

"That's three and four," he said referring to the wedge and the penalty shot. "He's hitting five. How many shot-lead does he have?"

None by the time Snedeker got down to the putting green to warm up for a most unlikely playoff.

When it ended, Snedeker removed his visor and hugged his caddie, Scott Vail, who walked toward Stanley and said, "I'm sorry."

There was not much else to say.

"He's going to have a tough night," Snedeker said. "There's no way around it. But he can be better from it. The thing I hope he doesn't do is dwell on it. I hope he moves past it pretty quick."

Stanley is no stranger to heartache. Last summer, he was two shots ahead at the John Deere Classic until he bogeyed the final hole from a bunker, and Steve Stricker closed with two straight birdies to win.

This loss, however, put him in the wrong kind of company.

It was reminiscent of Van de Velde at Carnoustie, who made triple bogey on the last hole of the 1999 British Open and lost in a playoff; of Robert Garrigus, who made triple bogey on the last hole of the St. Jude Classic in 2010 and lost in a playoff; and even of Frank Lickliter at Torrey Pines, who three-putted from 12 feet on the 17th hole in 2001 to make triple bogey in the third playoff hole in losing to Phil Mickelson.

"I know I'll be back," Stanley said, pausing to allow the words to come out of his mouth. "It's tough to swallow right now."

For 71 holes, Stanley had shown the power, poise and polish of a rising star. He was like a machine, really, his emotions hidden behind sunglasses as he crushed one 300-yard drive after another, and then calmly rolled in par putts of 12 feet, 5 feet and 8 feet late in his round to keep his cushion.

Snedeker was in the group ahead of him and took his lone bogey of the final round on the 17th hole. That put Stanley up by four shots as he walked over to the 18th tee to play the easiest hole at Torrey Pines.

A perfect drive. A short iron to a good distance to hit the green with his wedge.

"We tried to lay it up close enough so that we wouldn't put that much spin on it," Stanley said. "Thought I had a pretty good shot, but just had too much spin."

He took his drop, hit wedge that landed on the top shelf, and his 45-foot putt down into the bowl of the green stayed 3 1/2 feet above the hole. He missed the putt to the left and had to sign for a 74.

Both players made birdie on the 18th in the playoff ? Stanley went just over the back of the green with his second shot ? and Snedeker closed him out on the second extra hole.

"This one I kind of backed into," Snedeker said. "You never like winning a tournament that way. But you do like winning."

He offered condolences, but no apologies.

"If anybody wants to see the trophy, it will be at my house the rest of my life," Snedeker said. "It's not a tainted win. Winning out here is hard to do. There have been a lot of guys that have had trouble closing out. And I'm sure Kyle will end up winning plenty of golf tournaments in his career. He's got that kind of talent."

Snedeker now has three PGA Tour victories, coming from at least five shots behind in all of them.

He also knows emotion, having first gained national attention after the 2008 Masters, where he had a roller coaster round and wound up with a 77. Speaking to the media, he buried his face in a towel and wept openly.

So to hear that Stanley's eyes were wet, that his lip was quivering and that he could barely get out a sentence without choking on emotion, was not a surprise to Snedeker.

"I don't think anybody should feel embarrassed about showing their emotions," Snedeker said. "I think that's part of who you are. That's how much we care about it."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_farmers_insurance

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Pakistani Genius Teen Arfa Karim Dies, Draws Worldwide Praise (ContributorNetwork)

The death of Pakistani child genius Arfa Karim Randhawa from an epileptic episode at age 16 is reflecting common ground during a time of worldwide conflict.

U.S. citizens have been questioning aid to Pakistan, questioning whether a supposed ally harbored Osama bin Laden and has been a haven to al-Qaida terrorists.

A child's story establishes the common ground.

Arfa Karim, with support from her parents, was a gifted child and a Third World computer prodigy. A writeup in The Express Tribune, an arm of the International Herald Tribune, expresses sentiment that she made an impact during her short-lived 16 years. The girl worked hard to make the most of her gifts and talents, becoming the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at age 9, earning the praise and consideration of none other than Bill Gates. He worked to ensure she had the best medical care after her Dec. 22 epileptic seizure led to heart failure and brain damage. At the age of 10, Arfa Karim achieved a license to pilot an airplane.

Her story resonates with parents worldwide who aspire that their children achieve full potential. In addition to salutes from Microsoft, Arfa Karim Randhawa received numerous awards and gold medals from government and private institutions.

Citizens who react to Arfa Karim's premature death by doing Google searches for Arfa Karim Randhawa will find her posed for a photo, chin in hand, in an outdoor setting. This was uncommon in her hometown of Lahare, Pakistan, where girls and women often are culturally subordinated. Arfa Karim told journalist Todd Bishop, "If you want to do something big in life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind. If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident, you act confident. Therefore, never let shyness conquer your mind."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120131/tc_ac/10841831_pakistani_genius_teen_arfa_karim_dies_draws_worldwide_praise

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Rights groups blast Haiti judge on Duvalier case (AP)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti ? Human rights groups harshly criticized a Haitian judge Monday after he recommended former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier face trial only on corruption charges ? and not for rights abuses during his brutal 15-year rule.

The organizations, both Haitian and foreign, said Investigative Magistrate Carves Jean ignored critical testimony that would've given weight to a prosecution of the once-feared ruler known as "Baby Doc" for crimes that include torture, false imprisonment and murder.

"The Haitian people deserve their day in court to prove Duvalier's culpability, which is an essential part of any meaningful reconciliation process," said William O'Neill, director of the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum.

Mario Joseph, a lawyer whose Haitian-run firm is representing some of the Duvalier regime's victims, said the judge "made so many errors" that they compromised his pre-trial investigation. He said the judge disregarded testimony from eight people who wanted to file complaints alleging torture and false imprisonment.

Jean decided that Duvalier should go before a special court that handles relatively minor crimes. Duvalier, the former "president for life" who has been free to roam about the capital since his surprise return from exile last year, would face no more than five years in prison if convicted in that court.

Jean said the statute of limitations has run out on any human rights crimes committed during Duvalier's 1971-86 regime but not on accusations of misappropriation of public funds. He did not explain his reasoning, although Duvalier is widely thought to have used money from the Haitian treasury to finance his life in exile.

The judge declined to give reporters a copy of the 20-page order that he held in his hands in his office at the courthouse. The decision, based on a yearlong investigation, must first be reviewed by the attorney general as well as by Duvalier and the victims of his regime who filed complaints against the former leader, Jean said.

Duvalier's lawyer, Reynold Georges, had argued that all charges should be dismissed, and he said he would appeal Jean's finding as soon as he received the paperwork.

"We're going to appeal that decision ... and throw it in the garbage can," Georges told The Associated Press. "I'm very sorry he did that ? everybody will condemn this decision."

Human Rights Watch, which has helped push for a trial, also called for an appeal ? to overturn the judge's decision against a trial on abuse charges.

"Those who were tortured under Duvalier, those whose loved ones were killed or simply disappeared, deserve better than this," Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch, wrote in an e-mail. "This wrong-headed ruling must be overturned on appeal if Haitians are to believe that their justice system can work to investigate the worst crimes."

Brody and O'Neill both argued the statute of limitations hasn't expired on alleged rights violations because they wouldn't take effect until the victims' whereabouts or people who disappeared under the regime were identified.

O'Neill added that if the decision isn't appealed, he hopes to see the case taken to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Last May, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged Haiti's government to "investigate and punish those responsible for the numerous violations of the right to life and physical security."

Amnesty International researcher Gerardo Ducos said he was puzzled by the judge's findings, saying the "investigation was a sham and its conclusion a disgrace." He said that only a handful of victims were interviewed and that there was no effort to collect testimony from victims and witnesses outside Haiti.

Others said Haiti has an obligation under international law to put Duvalier on trial.

"Just as courts in Chile and Argentina have addressed past atrocities by their former military dictators, Haiti's courts are fully capable of bringing Duvalier to trial, and of seeking international support to do so, if needed," said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Duvalier has posed a challenge to Haiti since his return from 25 years in exile in France. Haiti has a weak judicial system, with little history of successfully prosecuting even simple crimes, and the government is preoccupied with reconstruction from the devastating January 2010 earthquake.

A majority of Haitians are now too young to have lived under Duvalier, who was only 19-years-old when he was tapped by his feared father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvaler, to assume the presidency. But many still remember his government's nightmarish prisons and violent special militia, known as the Tonton Macoute, which killed and tortured political opponents with impunity.

More than 20 victims filed complaints shortly after Duvalier's return. Some were prominent Haitians, including Robert Duval, a former soccer star who said he was beaten and starved during his 17 months of captivity in the dreaded Fort Dimanche prison.

On Monday, Duval said he was stunned when he was notified about the judge's decision.

"I don't understand how he could've done that," Duval said by telephone. "If that's the case, that's an outrageous decision."

Since its inception, the case has stumbled along. Prosecutors have been fired and the defendant has made few court appearances, despite pressure from advocacy groups saying a successful prosecution would mark a turning point for Haiti's weak judiciary.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti said it was eager to see the case go to trial, but Western embassies in Port-au-Prince, including the United States, remained largely mum on the matter, saying it was up to the Haitian government.

Haitian President Michel Martelly gave mixed signals. Last week, the first-time politician recanted a suggestion from a day earlier that he might be open to a pardon for Duvalier, citing a need to end internal strife that has long dogged the country. Presidential adviser Damian Merlo said, "A Duvalier pardon is not part of the agenda."

On Monday, Merlo declined to comment. Presidential spokesman Lucien Jura didn't answer his cellphone.

The Martelly administration has made Duvalier critics uneasy by filling its ranks with former officials from the Duvalier era and grown children of members of the former dictator's inner circle.

Since his return, Duvalier has traveled around the capital and countryside, hobnobbing with friends, dining at high-end restaurants and even attending a memorial service for the victims of the 2010 earthquake. Jean, the investigating magistrate, had threatened to arrest Duvalier this month because he was allegedly violating the terms of his release.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_duvalier

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Neeson's 'The Grey' tops box office with $20M

NEW YORK (AP) ? Beware the Liam in Winter. Liam Neeson's "The Grey" topped the weekend box office with $20 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, continuing the actor's success as an action star in the winter months.

The Alaskan survivalist thriller opened above expectations with a performance on par with previous Neeson thrillers "Taken" and "Unknown." Those films, both January-February releases, opened with $24.7 million and $21.9 million, respectively.

But the R-rated "The Grey," which has received good reviews, drove home the strong appeal of Neeson, action star. It's an unlikely turn for the 59-year-old Neeson, previously better known for his dramatic performances, like those in "Schindler's List" and "Kinsey."

"Liam is a true movie star, period," said Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films. It's the second release for the newly formed distributor, created by theater chains AMC and Regal.

"My guess is that Liam Neeson in action thrillers would work just about any time of year."

January is often a dumping ground for less-stellar releases, a tradition held up by two badly reviewed new wide releases: "Man on a Ledge," with Sam Worthington, and "One for the Money" with Katherine Heigl.

"One for the Money" fared better, earning $11.8 million, while "Man on a Ledge" opened with $8.3 million.

Those were reasonably solid returns, and, in an unusual twist, were both ultimately for Lions Gate Entertainment. Its film studio, Lionsgate, released the romantic comedy "One for the Money." The action thriller "Man on a Ledge" was released by Summit Entertainment, which Lions Gate bought for $412.5 million earlier this month.

"One for the Money" was helped by a promotion with Groupon, the Internet discount site, with which Lionsgate previously partnered for "The Lincoln Lawyer." David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, said the large number of older, female subscribers of Groupon matched well with the audience of "One for the Money."

Groupon email blasts, he said, had a significant promotional effect.

Last week's box-office leader, "Underworld: Awakenings," Sony's Screen Gem's latest installment in its vampire series, came in second with $12.5 million, bringing its cumulative total to $45.1 million.

The unexpectedly large haul for "The Grey," strong holdovers (such as the George Lucas-produced World War II action film "Red Tails," which earned $10.4 million in its second week) and the bump for Oscar contending films following Tuesday's nominations added up to a good weekend for Hollywood. The box office was up about 15 percent on the corresponding weekend last year.

So far, every weekend this year has been an "up" weekend, after a somewhat dismal fourth quarter in 2011.

"'Mission: Impossible,' I think, really helped reinvigorate the marketplace, and that's carried over into the first part of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's good news for Hollywood after the down-trending box office of 2011."

Oscar favorites "The Descendants," ''Hugo" and "The Artist" sought to capitalize on their recent Academy Awards nominations. Each expanded to more theaters and saw an uptick in business.

Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants," which is nominated for five Oscars including best picture, added 1,441 screens in its 11th week of release. It added $6.6 million and has now made $58.8 million, making it one of Fox Searchlight's most successful releases.

Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution for Fox Searchlight, said the film's nominations and its recent Golden Globes wins (for best drama and best actor, George Clooney) "played a big role" in its weekend box office.

Paramount's "Hugo," which led Oscar nominations with 11 including best picture, saw a 143 percent jump in business over its last weekend. In its tenth week of release, it earned $2.3 million, bringing its total to $58.7 million.

The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist," with 10 Oscar nominations including best picture, expanded a modest 235 screens to bring it to a total of 897 screens in its 10th week of release. It earned $3.3 million, with a total of $16.7 million.

The Weinstein Co. is being careful with the black-and-white, largely silent film. Thus far, it has appealed particularly to older audiences.

"It's not the same type of picture as any other picture in the marketplace," said Erik Loomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co. "Now that the nominations are out, we're going to look to capitalize on it as best we can. ... We're being very, very meticulous with it. We're not throwing it out there and grabbing every theater we can. At some point, we'll open the floodgates on the movie, maybe closer to the awards."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Grey," $20 million.

2. "Underworld: Awakening," $12.5 million.

3. "One for the Money," $11.8 million.

4. "Red Tails," $10.4 million.

5. "Man on a Ledge," $8.3 million.

6. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $7.1 million.

7. "The Descendants," $6.6 million.

8. "Contraband," $6.5 million.

9. "Beauty and the Beast," $5.3 million.

10. "Haywire," $4 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

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

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-29-US-Box-Office/id-3a45dd8e69224f159d9850fb268e5b4f

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Factbox: A list of winners at the SAG Awards (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? The Screen Actors Guild on Sunday picked winners of its annual awards for best performances in film and TV, and Mary Tyler Moore was given a lifetime achievement honor. Below is a full list of winners in both film and TV categories:

FILM

Best Ensemble Cast:"The Help"

Actor: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"

Actress: Viola Davis, "The Help"

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Stunt Performances in a Film: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"

TELEVISION

Best Ensemble Cast - Drama: "Boardwalk Empire"

Actor - Drama: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"

Actress - Drama: Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story"

Best Ensemble Cast - Comedy: "Modern Family"

Actor - Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"

Actress - Comedy: Betty White, "Hot In Cleveland"

Actor - TV Movie or Miniseries: Paul Giamatti, "Too Big To Fail"

Actress - TV Movie or Miniseries: Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce"

Stunt Performances in a TV Series: "Game of Thrones"

(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/en_nm/us_sagawards_winners

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Jennifer Islam: Done... But Not Done

This is part of our monthly series 'Mission: Accepted,' in partnership with Minds Matter, which chronicles the lives of three students as they apply for college in their senior year.

Have you ever listened to the cover of Busta Rhyme's "Look at Me Now" by Karmin (aka the best YouTube band ever)? There is one line that directly relates to this post: "I'm done... No, really though, I'm not done." Common app and CUNY and Rutgers apps? Done and sent. SAT scores? Sent. Teacher recommendations? Written and sent. Fee waiver applications? Filled out and sent. College application process? Done. But no, really though, I'm not done.

I can't consider myself officially done because I have not been accepted anywhere yet. I won't be truly done until I make my final decision about what school to attend. Besides, now I have to enter Financial Aid-topia. There is so much paperwork to complete and family tax info to track down. Then there are scholarships! There are so many to scour through so I can find the perfect ones for me. I will be applying for anything and everything that I am eligible for. My favorite site for scholarships is Fastweb, which emails you opportunities that match up with the profile you create when you sign up (and yes, you can edit this profile). This saves searching time, but you still have to endure the hours of applications. I also like the weekly three-sentence scholarship offered by Zinch. You have 52 chances per year to earn $1,000 by answering a simple question in 280 characters. How awesometastic is that??? Many students enter each week, but Zinch only chooses about four of the best responses. One recent question I liked was, "If you could create your own national holiday, what would it be and how would you celebrate it?" There are definitely more scholarship sites to check out, and you should do what I do: take advantage of every opportunity you get.

Another thing that was keeping me from feeling truly done was having to deal with the scariest people in my reality -- my family -- about where I will be living for the next four years. I want to go to school somewhere dorm-able, but my parents have always wanted me to stay in New York City and live at home. I'd tried to talk to them about this many times, but they tended to avoid the question. They're worried about my security and how I'll pay for housing, food, books, and other things. They don't feel that I am ready to survive on my own. This may sound typical, but there's more to my situation: both of my parents are ill. My mom has kidney disease and is expected to get a new kidney within the next year. Her social worker has said that she'll need as much care as possible after the transplant. My dad has diabetes and heart problems. On top of this, my sister drops off her son four days a week so we can babysit him while she's at work.

They all want me to go to school in NYC and commute from home so I can continue helping around the house. I completely understand this, and it's one of the reasons I don't want to go too far away. My limit is a state bordering New York, but I'm also willing to stay in NYC. It's a great city and I'd have a lot of advantages, like already knowing how to get around and where to eat. More importantly, I'd be closer to my family. I would still like the chance to live on campus, though. Right now, I never have time to myself. Living in the dorms would give me freedom and teach me how to live on my own. I'd be able to have closer bonds with friends, clubs, and the mascot. Basically, I'd have the full college experience -- and I'd be able to tell nifty stories to my future kids. Though I worry about my family, I know that my two other siblings would be there to help take care of my parents, and that makes me feel better. And, of course, I'd come home to see them as often as I could.

Fortunately, my Minds Matter mentors and team leader succeeded in talking to my dad about my college living situation, They convinced him to let me dorm by using these arguments:

• Dorming can cost less than commuting if a school's financial aid package covers it. Of course, I won't know what kind of packages my schools provide until I apply for aid.
• Living on campus saves time. After my last class of the day, I'll be able to scurry back to my dorm within 15 minutes, as opposed to taking an hour-long subway ride home.
• I am old enough to take care of myself. I need to learn the significance of responsibility and explore the world outside my neighborhood; the best way for me to do that is to start off on my own. My family will always be there for me, but I will never get far in life if I don't take some steps on my own now.

I've overcome a lot of obstacles to get to where I am. But whether it was stressing out over what sentence would make me sound better in one of my essays or talking to my parents about my future, I overcame it. I'm still not done with senior year, though. I haven't even gotten any college acceptances yet! But when I do make that decision about my future, the first thing I will say is, "Look at me now."

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-islam/done-but-not-done_b_1194736.html

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Sect kills police officer at station in N. Nigeria (AP)

KANO, Nigeria ? Police say gunmen from a radical Islamist sect have attacked another police station, killing one officer in a north Nigeria city where they killed 185 people last week.

Kano state police spokesman Magaji Musa Majiya said the shooting happened Friday in the capital Kano, a city of more than 9 million people already under siege by the sect known as Boko Haram. He said officers killed three sect members in the attack, but others dragged the bodies away.

The spokesman blamed the attack on Boko Haram, which carried out a massive attack Jan. 20 in Kano.

In the northeast Nigeria city of Maiduguri, authorities also blamed gunmen from the sect for shooting and killing a youth leader of the All Nigeria People's Party on Friday night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence

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Ian Abercrombie, Mr. Pitt on "Seinfeld", dies at 77 (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 29 (TheWrap.com) ? Ian Ambercrombie, the classically trained British stage actor best known to American TV audiences as Elaine Benes' nutty boss Mr. Pitt on "Seinfeld," died of a heart attack Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 77.

Abercrombie appeared on several other U.S. TV shows. He played the 800-year-old Professor Crumbs on "Wizards of Waverly Place and a butler on "Desperate Housewives," and made guest appearances on "Twin Peaks," "Dynasty" and "Days of Our Lives."

He appeared in a number of movies, including "Stalag 17," "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "The Prisoner of Zenda," with Peter Sellers.

He did voiceover work in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties" and "Rango," and had completed "Green Lantern" for the Cartoon Network just before he died.

As Mr. Pitt in Seinfeld, he was known for his obsession with socks and quirky habits like eating candy bars with a knife and fork.

He is survived by his wife, Gladys.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/tv_nm/us_ianambercrombie

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Yemeni president heads to US for medical treatment (AP)

SANAA, Yemen ? Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh headed to the United States on Saturday for medical treatment, his spokesman said, the latest stage in an effort to distance him from his country's policies to help ease a transition from his rule.

Ahmed al-Soufi, the press officer for the presidency, told The Associated Press that Saleh had arrived in London and would leave later Saturday for New York for medical treatment in the United States for wounds suffered in a June assassination attempt in the Yemeni capital.

Saleh left Yemen for to neighboring Oman a week ago, planning to head to the United States, after weeks of talks with the U.S. over where he could go. Washington has been trying to get Saleh to leave his homeland, but it does not want him to settle permanently in the United States, fearing it would be seen as harboring a leader considered by his people to have blood on his hands.

In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed that Saleh's plane was scheduled to land Saturday at a British commercial airport "to refuel en route to the United States." Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy, she said Saleh and those accompanying him were not going to enter the United Kingdom.

Saleh was traveled on a chartered Emirates plane with a private doctor, translator, eight armed guards and several family members, an official in the Yemeni president's office said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details.

In November, Saleh handed over his powers to his vice president and promised to step down completely after months of protests by millions across the country demanding an end to his nearly 33-year rule. A national unity government was formed between his ruling party and the opposition.

But opponents say he has continued to interfere in the work of a unity government through his allies and relatives in key posts ? particularly his son and nephew, who command the country's most elite and powerful military units. As a result, the past two months have seen persistent violence, power struggles and delays in reforms.

The U.S. and its allies have been pressured Saleh to leave in hopes of removing him from the scene will smoothen the transition.

Saleh agreed to step down in return for a sweeping immunity from prosecution on any crimes committed during his rule, a measure that has angered many in Yemen who want him tried for the deaths of protesters in his crackdown on the uprising against him. Protests have continued demanding his prosecution and the removal of his relatives and allies from authority.

It is also unclear how permanent Saleh's exile is. In a farewell speech before leaving to Oman, Saleh promised to return to Yemen before Feb. 21 presidential elections as the head of his party.

Some in Yemen suspect Saleh is still trying to slip out of the deal and find ways to stay in power, even if it's behind the scenes.

Even since the protests against his rule began a year ago, Saleh has proved a master in eluding pressure to keep his grip, though over the months his options steadily closed around him. He slipped out of signing the accord for the power handover three times over the months before finally agreeing to it.

He was badly burned in a June explosion in his compound in Sanaa. He received medical treatment in neighboring Saudi Arabia for three months. American officials had hoped he would remain there, but the Yemeni leader returned home and violence worsened anew.

His maneuvering and the turmoil on the ground left the United States struggling to find a stable transition in the country to ensure a continued fight against al-Qaida militants based in the country, who make up the most active branch of the terror network in the world. Saleh was a close ally of Washington in the fight, taking millions in counterterrorism aid.

During the past year of turmoil, al-Qaida-linked militants outright took control of several cities and towns in the south, including Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province.

On Friday, government forces battled with the militants near the town of Jaar, which they also control. At least five people were killed in the fighting, Yemeni security officials said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

___

AP correspondent Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen

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IV Acetaminophen Linked to More Child Overdoses (HealthDay)

FRIDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Following the U.S. Food Drug Administration's approval last year of an intravenous formulation of acetaminophen for fever and pain in a hospital setting, researchers warn that use of the preparation could lead to serious overdoses, particularly among the youngest patients.

The problem: There is confusion over measurement guidelines -- milligrams vs. milliliters, to be specific -- that can result in the accidental administration of doses that are up to 10 times more than the proper amount.

"This product would be given in a health care facility," said study co-author Dr. Richard Dart, from the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center at Denver Health in Colorado. "And thus, the overdose ends up being from a miscalculation by a health care provider."

"In theory, the risk to the child is that they could develop serious liver injury," Dart added. "Liver injury is avoided if the overdose is detected and the antidote [acetylcysteine] is administered within several hours. [But] the challenge in the case of an intravenous overdose is that the medication error needs to be detected by the health care provider because it doesn't produce identifiable symptoms," apart from nausea and vomiting.

Dart and his colleague, Dr. Barry Rumack, discuss their concerns in the February issue of Pediatrics.

The authors noted that dosages of IV-administered acetaminophen are calculated in milligrams, mixed at a ratio of 10 milligrams of the drug for every one milliliter of a non-drug solution. Problems arise if and when that drug ratio is improperly executed.

Since it came on the global market a decade ago, the IV option has been very popular, with roughly 500 million doses having already been distributed to patients of all ages worldwide.

The FDA approval, however, restricted the drug's use to American patients above the age of 2. But, given the inherent difficulty in administering oral versions of the drug to pediatric patients, the authors cautioned that so-called "off label" use of the drug among very young Americans is pretty much inevitable.

Despite the fact that overdosing (pediatric or otherwise) has not yet been widely reported in the United States, the authors pointed to dozens of pediatric overdose cases in Britain and elsewhere across Europe (most involving children under the age of 1).

Dart and Rumack advised that hospitals using IV acetaminophen work with pharmacy and nursing staff to raise awareness of the overdose dangers. They also suggest that clinicians watch for accidental poisonings and report overdoses.

"This type of error is unfortunately common in medicine, and affects many drugs," said Dart, who also works in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "I think the wisest way of avoiding the problem is to make sure that all orders written in a hospital are reviewed by a pharmacist before they are implemented. This markedly reduces the opportunity for error."

Frank Federico, a pharmacist and executive director of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Mass., believes "there are ways to ensure or at least improve the safety of drug administration in a hospital setting for pediatrics."

"For example, when you have a drug like this one that is ordered in milligrams but administered in milliliters you need a good safeguard and system that ensures that the conversion is simple and easy to do," he said. "And so you have computers do the math for you, rather than a person. You eliminate human error and you use clearly printed labels."

Federico, who once served as director of pharmacy at Children's Hospital Boston, suggested that it is possible to put in place a labeling protocol that is straightforward and allows for multiple checks.

"Our labels listed the concentration of the product, with the most basic ratio in there," he noted. "It was clear. And that way not only was the technician who was preparing the product clear on how much liquid was necessary, but so were the pharmacists who would check and the nurses who would check."

Parents should also not be afraid to ask hospital staff to double check the dosing. "Asking is always appropriate," he added.

More information

For more on medication errors, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120127/hl_hsn/ivacetaminophenlinkedtomorechildoverdoses

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Baby On The Way For 'Big Bang Theory's' Simon Helberg (omg!)

There's a baby on the way for "The Big Big Bang Theory" star Simon Helberg!

The actor -- who plays turtleneck-loving Howard Wolowitz on the CBS show -- and wife Jocelyn Towne are expecting their first child, a rep for the couple told People.

PLAY IT NOW: 2011 Emmy Awards Red Carpet: Simon Helberg & Kunal Nayyar Dish On ?The Big Bang Theory?

The baby is due this spring.

Simon, 31, and Jocelyn, an actress, met in Los Angeles and married in July 2007.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Wimps To Pimps

In addition to the baby news, Simon may earn yet another reason to celebrate this weekend - "The Big Bang Theory" is nominated for Best Ensemble in a TV Comedy at the 18th Annual SAG Awards.

"Big Bang" will face off against "Glee," "Modern Family," and NBC's "30 Rock" and "The Office" for the coveted statue at the SAG Awards, airing on Sunday at 5 PT/8 ET on TNT.

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood Dads & Their Adorable Little Ones!

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_baby_way_big_bang_theorys_simon_helberg192459271/44339381/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/baby-way-big-bang-theorys-simon-helberg-192459271.html

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The New RIM CEO Is Already Out of Touch [BlackBerry]

Thorsten Heins, the new BlackBerry boss, is tasked with making cool things that people want and will buy. Will it happen? His recent interview with CrackBerry isn't encouraging. But were we really expecting more the guy who spent the last five years overseeing the waning BlackBerry smartphone portfolio? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8odjCvTTtVY/the-new-rim-ceo-is-already-out-of-touch

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Deficit focus questioned as answer to euro crisis (AP)

FRANKFURT, Germany ? Europe is getting tougher on government debt. After more than two years struggling to rescue financially shaky governments, leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro are ready to agree on a treaty that will force member countries to put deficit limits into their national laws.

At first glance, it seems logical ? after all, the crisis erupted after too many governments spent and borrowed too much for too long.

But a number of economists ? and some politicians ? say the focus on cutting deficits is misplaced and that more fundamental problems are being left unaddressed.

It's how the euro was set up in the first place, they say ? one currency, but multiple government budgets, economies moving at different speeds and no central treasury or borrowing authority to back them up.

Until those institutional flaws are tackled, the economists say, the euro will remain vulnerable. So far, Greece, Ireland and Portugal have turned to other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund for emergency funds to avoid defaulting on their debts.

Nonetheless, European leaders are pushing a new anti-debt treaty as the leading edge of their effort to reassure markets. European Union leaders hope to agree on the treaty's text at a meeting starting Monday, and sign it by March.

The proposed treaty pushes countries to limit "structural" deficits ? shortfalls not caused by ups and downs of the business cycle ? to a tight 0.5 percent of gross domestic product or face a fine. That comes on top of other recent EU legislation intended to tighten observance of the eurozone's limits: overall deficits of 3 percent of GDP and national debt of 60 percent of GDP.

European leaders are also urging countries to improve growth by reducing regulation and other barriers to business.

Yet economists like Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, says it's striking that governments are focusing on budget rules, given Europe's earlier experience with them. An earlier set of rules were largely ignored at the behest of France and Germany in the first years after the euro's 1999 launch.

And some of the countries that now are in the deepest trouble ? such as Spain and bailed-out Ireland ? stayed well within the debt limit for years.

"This suggests that the simplistic view ? that a thorough enforcement of the rules would have prevented the crisis ? should be treated with caution," Pisani-Ferry wrote in a recent article for Bruegel.

Some European politicians are also voicing doubts about focusing primarily on deficits. They include new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who has warned that growth is the real answer to shrinking debt in the long term. International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde has urged a broader approach. She calls for a willingness to share the burden of supporting banks and other financial risks so troubles in one country don't become a crisis for the entire currency bloc.

Here are four reasons for concern cited by economists ? but not yet on the summit agendas of the eurozone's leaders.

NO COMMON BORROWING: Without a central, pan-European treasury, there's no steady central source of support for eurozone countries that run into economic or financial trouble. Many economists say issuing jointly guaranteed "eurobonds" would make sure no one country would ever default and governments would always be able to borrow. Governments would give up some of their sovereignty, allowing review of their spending and borrowing plans, to get the money.

Pisani-Ferry argues that this would protect governments from the kind of self-fulfilling bond market panic fueled by fears of default, that pushed Greece, Ireland and Portugal over the edge.

Yet the idea of more collective responsibility remains unpopular in prosperous EU countries such as Germany, Finland and the Netherlands. They can borrow cheaply due to their strong finances and would likely pay more to borrow at the rate that includes the shaky ones.

Eurobonds would also likely require a time-consuming change to the European Union's basic treaty ? which currently bans members from assuming each other's debts. There would also have to be a mechanisms in place to stop countries with shoddy finances from borrowing too much.

Opponents say that's unrealistic. "If you have mutual debt responsibility, and freedom of each country to borrow, then each country can drive the eurozone into bankruptcy," said Kai Konrad, managing director of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance in Munich.

BANK BAILOUTS: Europe currently has no safety mechanism that would stop a country from sinking under the weight of having to bail out banks based in that country.

At the moment, each country bears the brunt of rescuing its own banks. This can create serious problems in a crisis.

For example Ireland's loosely regulated banks borrowed heavily and loaned out money freely for speculative real estate projects. When the real estate market collapsed and the loans were not paid back, the Irish government had to step in to guarantee the bank's bonds ? and quickly went broke. Ireland had a very low debt level of only 25 percent of annual economic output in 2007. As bank losses moved to the government's balance sheet, by 2011 debt hit 106 percent of annual GDP. The country remains on EU-IMF life support.

Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform in London draws an analogy with U.S. insurer AIG, which was bailed out by the U.S. federal government in 2008. AIG was incorporated in the U.S. state of Delaware, yet Delaware did not go bankrupt handling the rescue. The central government stepped in.

TRADE IMBALANCES: Economists point out that gaps in how well countries compete and trade with one another have steadily widened since the euro was created.

Greece's current account deficit ? the broadest measure of trade ? is even worse than its budget deficit. It buys and borrows far more than it sells and earns abroad.

Normally trade imbalances are evened out by fluctuating exchange rates ? but that can't happen within the euro. Countries can improve their competitiveness by doing what Germany did in the 2000s ? cut labor costs to business by cutting general unemployment benefits. They can cut red tape and taxes. But that takes years.

Meanwhile, the region is also hampered by an inflexible pan-euro interest rate. Low interest rates ? set by the European Central Bank to see Germany and France through stagnation in the early 2000s ? were too low to control wage inflation and reckless borrowing in places like Greece and Ireland. Wage costs and debt levels rose. Competitiveness and exports declined, weakening the economy and undermining government finances.

CENTRAL BANK POWERS: Yet another structural issue is the limited power of the European Central Bank to support governments.

The bank resisted calls to buy larger amounts of government bonds. That resistance observes the spirit of the EU basic treaty, which forbids the central bank from financing governments.

But it's a constraint that central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England don't have. They can buy up their country's debt, a move that can push down government borrowing costs and reassure markets the state will always pay its debts.

The ECB remains "a limited-purpose central bank," says Tilford.

He notes that Britain has more debt than Spain, 81 percent of GDP versus 67 percent, yet borrows at just over 2 percent annual interest for its 10-year bonds, while Spanish debt for the same period has a 5 percent-plus interest rate. One difference: markets know the Bank of England has the ability to support the government in a crisis by buying bonds and driving down interest rates.

Many of these issue were raised before the currency was launched in 1999, then got less attention.

Tilford says that "the tendency has been to say the currency union needs all these things but in practice it's not necessarily the case" so long as countries obey budget rules and manage their finances well.

"It's become harder to maintain that kind of argumentation now, given how bad things have got."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_fixing_the_euro

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North America boosts Ford in 4Q

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2010 file photo, Ford vehicles are reflected in the bumper of a Ford F-350 truck, at Fremont Ford in Newark, Calif. Ford said Friday Jan. 27, 2012 it made $13.4 billion in the fourth quarter, largely due to an accounting change. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2010 file photo, Ford vehicles are reflected in the bumper of a Ford F-350 truck, at Fremont Ford in Newark, Calif. Ford said Friday Jan. 27, 2012 it made $13.4 billion in the fourth quarter, largely due to an accounting change. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) ? For Ford, there's no place like home.

North America propped up the company in the fourth quarter as the European debt crisis and flooding in Thailand hurt profits elsewhere. Ford Motor Co.'s shares took an initial hit after the company missed Wall Street's expectations, but moderated once the company promised better ? if still bumpy ? results in 2012.

Ford reported $13.62 billion in net income, but investors brushed off the result because most of that came from an accounting change. Excluding that change, earnings totaled $1.1 billion, or 20 cents a share, missing Wall Street expectations by 5 cents.

Ford's stock price fell as much as 6 percent in premarket trading. The stock price was down 3.5 percent to $12.29 in early afternoon trading.

Ford said Thai flooding and the rising cost of steel and other commodities hurt the company more than analysts had expected.

Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said the November floods, which affected Thai parts suppliers, cost 34,000 units of production in Thailand and in South Africa, which relies on Thai-made parts. Ford also spent $2.3 billion more on commodities in 2011 than the prior year, which was $100 million more than it had forecast.

The company lost money in Europe and Asia in the fourth quarter, and profits fell in South America. But its North American operating profit rose 33 percent to $889 million.

"The quarter was really driven by North America," Booth said.

For the full year, North American profits rose 15 percent to $6.2 billion. Ford's U.S. market share slipped slightly in the fourth quarter but was up for the year, and the company got higher prices for new vehicles like the Ford Explorer and Ford Focus.

Elsewhere, the company suffered. In Europe, Ford's second-most important region by sales, fourth-quarter operating losses more than doubled to $190 million as the region's debt crisis hurt car sales.

Ford is cutting European production by 36,000 vehicles in the first quarter. It's also trying to limit promotions, which could hurt sales to deal-hungry buyers.

Still, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said the company feels good about its prospects in Europe this year. Ten new or revamped vehicles are coming to that market.

Europe is the wild card that could prevent Ford from reaching its financial goals in 2012, said Bill Selesky, an auto analyst with Argus Research. He said Ford's investors calmed down after the company said it expects operating margins to increase this year. Ford's operating margin fell to 2.2 percent in 2011 because of higher commodity costs.

In Asia, Ford's sales fell 7 percent in the fourth quarter, largely because of the slowing pace of Chinese sales. Ford's Asia Pacific region lost $83 million in the fourth quarter and $92 million for the full year after posting profits in 2010.

Booth said things will be bumpy in Asia for the next several years as Ford embarks on a major expansion that includes the construction of seven plants. The company aims to triple the cars in its Chinese lineup to 15 in the next three years.

Booth said the South American market is also getting more competitive, and Ford's products there are older than some other brands. He expects that to turn around in 2013, when the company introduces more new products there. But in the meantime, fourth-quarter profits fell by more than half to $108 million.

For the full year, the Dearborn-based company made $20.2 billion, or $4.94 per share. Without the accounting gain, it earned $8.76 billion, or $1.51 per share, its highest operating profit since 1999. Full year revenue rose 13 percent to $136.3 billion.

Analysts had forecast full-year earnings of $1.86 per share on revenue of $127.31 billion.

Based on its full-year North American results, Ford said it will make profit-sharing payments of around $6,200 each to its 41,600 U.S. hourly employees. Employees will get their checks in March.

Ford moved $15.7 billion worth of tax credits and other assets off its books starting in 2006 because it wasn't making money so it couldn't take advantage of them. The company moved most of them back onto its books in the fourth quarter because it anticipates using them now that it's profitable.

The change will affect Ford's tax rates going forward. Ford's tax rate was 9 percent in 2010 because of the assets that were being held under the valuation allowance. Ford's new rate will be closer to 30 percent.

Booth called the change a "significant milestone" and said it's a strong indication that the company expects to remain profitable. Another is Ford's decision last month to reinstate a 5-cent quarterly dividend starting in March.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-27-Earns-Ford/id-272e329192ae44f4b41d70eff57bee25

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Children among 74 dead in 2 days of Syrian turmoil

This citizen journalism image provide by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and released early Friday Jan. 27, 2012, purports to show a Syrian man, right, mourning over the dead body of his son, who was shot by the Syrian forces, in Idlib province, Syria, on Thursday Jan. 26, 2012. A "terrifying massacre" in the restive Syrian city of Homs has killed more than 30 people, including small children, in a barrage of mortar fire and attacks by armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, activists said Friday. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO

This citizen journalism image provide by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and released early Friday Jan. 27, 2012, purports to show a Syrian man, right, mourning over the dead body of his son, who was shot by the Syrian forces, in Idlib province, Syria, on Thursday Jan. 26, 2012. A "terrifying massacre" in the restive Syrian city of Homs has killed more than 30 people, including small children, in a barrage of mortar fire and attacks by armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, activists said Friday. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO

This citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and released on Friday Jan. 27, 2012, purports to show the bodies of five Syrian children wrapped in plastic bags, with signs in Arabic identifying them by name. Activists say the children were killed in a shelling attack by Syrian forces, in the Karm el-Zaytoun neighborhood of Homs, Syria, on Thursday Jan. 26, 2012 A "terrifying massacre" in the restive Syrian city of Homs has killed more than 30 people, including small children, in a barrage of mortar fire and attacks by armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, activists said Friday. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO EDITORIAL USE ONLY

An anti-Syrian regime protester, gestures during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar Assad, at Khalidya area in Homs province, central Syria, on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Syrian troops stormed a flashpoint suburb of Damascus on Thursday, rounding people up in house-to-house raids and clashing with army defectors, activists said, as the 10-month-old uprising inches ever closer to the capital. (AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors stand guard on a rooftop to secure an anti-Syrian regime protest in the Deir Baghlaba area in Homs province, central Syria, on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad barraged residential buildings with mortars and machine-gun fire, killing at least 30 people, including a family of women and children during a day of sectarian killings and kidnappings in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, activists said Friday. (AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors secure a street near an anti-Syrian regime protest in the Deir Baghlaba area of Homs province, central Syria, on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad barraged residential buildings with mortars and machine-gun fire, killing at least 30 people, including a family of women and children during a day of sectarian killings and kidnappings in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, activists said Friday. (AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria have killed at least 74 people, including small children, as forces loyal to President Bashar Assad shelled residential buildings and fired on crowds in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists say.

Video posted online showed the bodies of five small children, five women and a man, all bloodied and piled on beds in what appeared to be an apartment after a building was hit in the city of Homs. A narrator said an entire family had been "slaughtered."

Much of the violence was focused in Homs, where heavy gunfire hammered the city Friday in a second day of chaos. A day earlier, the city saw a flare-up of sectarian kidnappings and killings between its Sunni and Alawite communities, and pro-regime forces blasted residential buildings with mortars and gunfire, according to activists.

At least 384 children have been killed, as of Jan. 7, in the crackdown on Syria's uprising since it began nearly 11 months ago, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said Friday. The count, based on reports from human rights groups, included children under age 18.

Most of the deaths took place in Homs and most of the victims were boys, UNICEF said. It said 380 children have been detained, including some under age 14. The United Nations estimates that more than 5,400 people have died in the turmoil.

The U.N. Security Council began closed-door negotiations Friday on a new Arab-European draft resolution aimed at resolving the crisis, but Russia's envoy said he could not back the current language as it stands.

Any resolution faces strong opposition from China and Russia, and both nations have veto power. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters that the text introduced by new Arab Security Council member Morocco has "red lines" for Moscow, but he's willing to "engage" with the resolution's sponsors.

Churkin said those lines include any indication of sanctions, including an arms embargo. "We need to concentrate on establishing political dialogue," he said.

The Syrian uprising, which began last March with mostly peaceful protests, has become increasingly violent in recent months as army defectors clash with government forces and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves. The violence has inflamed the sectarian divide in the country, where members of Assad's Alawite sect dominate the regime despite a Sunni Muslim majority.

Activists said at least 35 people were killed in Homs on Thursday and another 39 people were killed across the country Friday.

The video posted Friday by activists showed the bodies of five young children, their faces bloodied, wrapped in orange plastic bags. It said the children were believed to be from two families, the Akras and the Bahadours. Brown cardboard placards with the children's names written in Arabic were placed on their chests, identifying them: Thanaa, Ali, Najm, Abdul-Ghani and Sidra.

The video could not be independently verified.

Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said the spike in violence was linked to increasing pressure from the international community, the Arab League and the United Nations.

"The regime is trying to finish the matter through military means as soon as possible," and for that reason the level of violence increased," he said.

On Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem insisted that Damascus will continue its crackdown and said Syria would not accept any international interference in its affairs.

Assad's regime claims terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy by the U.S., Israel and Gulf Arab countries are behind the uprising, not protesters seeking change.

The head of Arab League observers in Syria said in a statement that violence in the country has spiked over the past few days. Sudanese Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi said the cities of Homs, Hama and Idlib have all witnessed a "very high escalation" in violence since Tuesday.

A "fierce military campaign" was also under way in the Hamadiyeh district of Hama since the early hours of Friday, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists. They said the sound of heavy machine-gun fire and loud explosions reverberated across the area.

Some activists reported seeing uncollected bodies in the streets of Hama.

Elsewhere, a car bomb exploded Friday at a checkpoint outside the northern city of Idlib, the Observatory said, citing witnesses. The number of casualties was not immediately clear.

Details of the wave of killings in Homs emerged Friday from an array of residents and activists

"There has been a terrifying massacre," Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the AP on Friday. He called for an independent investigation.

Thursday started with a spate of sectarian kidnappings and killings between the city's population of Sunnis and Alawites, a Shiite sect to which Assad belongs as well as most of his security and military leadership, said Mohammad Saleh, a centrist opposition figure and resident of Homs.

There was also a string of attacks by gunmen on army checkpoints, Saleh said. Checkpoints are a frequent target of dissident troops who have joined the opposition.

The Observatory said at least 11 people, including eight children, died when a building came under heavy mortar and machine-gun fire in the city's Karm el-Zaytoun neighborhood. Some residents spoke of another massacre that took place when shabiha ? armed regime loyalists ? stormed the district, slaughtering residents in an apartment, including children.

"They are killing people because of their sect," said one Sunni resident of Karm el-Zaytoun, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Thursday's death toll in Homs was at least 35, said the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella group of activists. Both groups cite a network of activists on the ground in Syria for their death tolls.

The reports could not be independently confirmed. Syria tightly controls access to trouble spots and generally allows journalists to report only on escorted trips, which slows the flow of information.

Also Friday, Iran's official IRNA news agency said gunmen in Syria kidnapped 11 Iranian pilgrims traveling by road from Turkey to Damascus.

Iranian pilgrims routinely visit Syria ? Iran's closest ally in the Arab world ? to pay homage to Shiite holy shrines. Last month, seven Iranian engineers building a power plant in central Syria were kidnapped. They have not yet been released.

The Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors fighting the regime, released a video on its Facebook page claiming responsibility for the kidnapping and saying the Iranians were taking part in the suppression of the Syrian people.

___

AP writer Elizabeth A. Kennedy contributed to this report from Beirut.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-28-Syria/id-9366e33fd23a49049bd69d0f8a9b59be

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Deep-sea fish recordings reveal grunts and quacks

Ecologists may have captured the first deep-sea fish sounds, hidden among the sounds of dolphins and humpback, fin and pilot whales, they report in a new study.

More than 50 years ago, researchers hypothesized that sound production in deep-sea fish is common, based on the fact that many of the species have the anatomy needed to produce sound. Most fish make incidental noises as a byproduct of chewing and swimming, but for deep-sea fish, which live in perpetual darkness, communicative noises might be important for survival and reproduction.

"But just because they have the anatomy to make noises, doesn't mean they necessarily do it," said Rodney Rountree, a marine ecologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "In terms of communicative sounds, we don't know what proportion of the fish do it."

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Few studies have ever reported recording possible deep-sea fish sounds, so scientists know little about these sounds, Rountree explained. It's not as simple as putting the fish in a tank and listening in on their conversations.

"Deep-water fish are extremely difficult to keep alive in the lab, and the fish will not make a sound unless you can elicit the behavior tied to the sound," he told LiveScience. For example, you won't be able to hear their reproductive sounds unless you can get them to spawn in the laboratory, which they won't do unless the conditions are just right. [Video of Fish Calls]

Moreover, until now scientists have not pursued recording deep-sea fish in their natural habitat, mostly because of the lack of adequate, low-cost technology. "Our study was the first where we purposely went out and did that," Rountree said.

In collaboration with commercial fishermen, Rountree and his colleagues developed a simple deep-water hydrophone. With the device, they recorded 24 hours of deep-water sounds from the seafloor (about 2,237 feet, or 862 meters, below the surface) of Welkers Canyon, which is south of New England's Georges Bank.

From the recording, they were able to identify various sounds from whales and other cetaceans,but they also heard at least 12 other unique and unidentifiable sounds.

These mysterious grunts, drumming and ducklike calls could be from whales, but they could also have come from deep-sea fish. "Most fish only hear low frequencies and only produce low-frequency sounds," Rountree said. "The sounds we recorded were in the range that fish typically use."

If the sounds were indeed produced by deep-sea fish, the continued increases in human-made noise may prove to be problematic, Rountree said. The potential fish noises were just barely above the background noise, he said, "so if the background noise increases too high, it might mask the fish's sounds from each other."

Rountree and his team are now trying to develop a listening system that incorporates video, in hopes of identifying the creatures that made the enigmatic noises. However, the work has been difficult.

"When we try to incorporate video, the price tag goes way up, because video requires light, and powering the light becomes a problem," Rountree said. "Right now we are still on the drawing board with trying to come up with a good way to do this."

They also hope to figure out the meaning behind the grunts and other calls.

The study appears in the new book, "Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life" (Springer, 2012).

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46171218/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Flurry: Amazon?s Kindle Fire Is Already Starting To Smoke Samsung?s Galaxy Tab

Wuh oh, Samsung ? better watch your tail. While Apple might not be seeing any impact (be it positive or negative) on iPad sales from the launch of the Kindle Fire, Samsung's Galaxy Tab ought to be feeling the heat. Tapping into the data provided by their app analytics platform (which they estimate has found its way onto around 90% of the Android devices out there), Flurry highlights a few surprising numbers.

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

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