Consumer confidence posts surprise decline

WASHINGTON?? U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in January as more Americans worried about the country's weak job market, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes dropped to 61.1 from an upwardly revised 64.8 the month before.

Economists had expected a reading of 68.0, according to a Reuters poll. December was originally reported as 64.5.

Consumers' labor market assessment worsened. The "jobs hard to get" index increased to 43.5 percent from 41.6 percent the month before. The "jobs plentiful" index also darkened, dropping to 6.1 percent from 6.6 percent.

The expectations index fell to 76.2 from 77.0, while the present situation index decreased to 38.4 from 46.5.

Consumers also felt worse about price increases with expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months up to 5.5 percent from 5.3 percent.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38933475/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

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Quantum speed limits within reach, present moves ever closer to future

Got your wire-rimmed spectacles on? Had a full night's rest? Eager to get those synapses firing? Here's hoping, because Marc Cheneau and co. are doing everything they can to stretch the sheer meaning of quantum understanding. The aforesaid scientists recently published an article that details a method for measuring quantum particle interaction in a way that has previously been considered impossible. Put simply (or, as simply as possible), the famed Lieb-Robinson bound was "quantified experimentally for the first time, using a real quantum gas." The techobabble rolls on quite severely from there, but the key here is realize just how much of an impact this has on the study of quantum entanglement, and in turn, quantum computing. For those interested in seeing what lives in a world beyond silicon, dig into the links below. You may never escape, though -- just sayin'.

Quantum speed limits within reach, present moves ever closer to future originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/10ztxqLapi0/

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Youth rage boils amid north Nigeria sect attacks (AP)

KANO, Nigeria ? The angry youths piled on top of the burned-out truck near a blood-spattered police station Wednesday in Nigeria's north, alternating praises for the radical Islamist sect that bombed the precinct and promising to kill any officer who returned.

The crowd overran the station that morning following an attack there the previous night, apparently by the sect known as Boko Haram, which last week killed at least 185 people in a coordinated assault that struck several police stations in the country's second-largest city of Kano.

Their jubilation underscored a growing danger from Nigeria's exploding population: a swarming unemployed and undereducated youth across the north whose anger at Nigeria's corrupt and weak central government make them ready recruits for the sect and other radicals.

"The poorer Muslim north sees systemic bias in the provision of basic services and repeated incidents of police brutality," a recent report from Washington-based think tank The Jamestown Foundation said.

Suspected members of Boko Haram surrounded the police station Tuesday night in the Sheka neighborhood of the sprawling and dusty city of Kano, home to more than 9 million people. The gunmen ordered civilians to get off the street, then began chanting "God is great" as they threw homemade bombs into the station and sprayed it with assault rifle fire, witnesses said.

Associated Press journalists saw youths overrun the station Wednesday, as black soot and smoke charred its walls. Doors to jail cells stood open. Blood coated the floor of the local commander's private bathroom. Investigative files apparently rifled through by attackers or the crowd covered the floors.

Older men around the neighborhood attempted to calm down the youths gathered there, with one trying to lock up the station while security forces remained nowhere to be seen. Most Muslims across Nigeria's north say they disapprove of Boko Haram, which claimed the assault Friday in Kano that killed at least 185 people.

"We are not satisfied with what is happening now," said 26-year-old Abubakar Muawuya. Our leaders "have to call this Boko Haram and sit down with them."

But the group there remained jubilant, repeatedly beating on the burned-out truck. Cheering youths waved an officer's uniform and others jumped up and down on the truck, with one wearing a police ballistic helmet.

Some also ominously asked journalists visiting the site if they were Christians.

Nigeria's youth represent what a British Council report last year described as a looming "demographic disaster" for Africa's most populous nation. Estimates in the report suggest Nigeria's population of more than 160 million people will swell by another 53 million people by 2050. And while the country makes billions from producing oil, agriculture and other vocations have wilted away, meaning fewer jobs for the growing population where many earn less than $2 a day without access to electricity or clean drinking water.

Illiteracy remains high as an education gap grows wider ? children have access to better schooling in the Christian-majority south compared to those in the Muslim north, the report said. Analysts worry that will give extremist groups like Boko Haram fertile grounds to grow as well.

Boko Haram wants to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslims in communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people split largely into a Christian south and Muslim north. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has now killed at least 262 people in 2012, more than half of the at least 510 people the sect killed in all of 2011, according to an Associated Press count.

On Wednesday, Niger's foreign minister Mohamed Bazoum said the sect received training and weapons from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, al-Qaida's north Africa branch.

"There is no doubt the two organizations are connected and that they have the same objective of destabilizing our region," he said.

So far, Nigeria's weak and corruption-riddled central government has been unable to stop Boko Haram's increasingly bloody attacks. On Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan placed the federal police's top official on "terminal leave" following the Kano attacks. Inspector Gen. Hafiz Ringim remained in the top position in the police force and was given a national honor recently despite the unrelenting attacks.

A statement from the presidency also said Jonathan "approved the retirement" of all deputy inspector generals of police and appointed a committee to look at ways of reforming a police force still organized much like the British colonial government left it.

However, it remains unclear what can be done to salvage a police force where more than a fourth of its officers serve as assistants and drivers to the country's elite, while many of the rest extort motorists at checkpoints. Ringim himself was due to retire anyway in several months.

___

Associated Press writers Ahmed Mohamed in Nouakchott, Mauritania and Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence

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Stocks dip on Greece, but show resilience (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks dipped on Tuesday as talks to resolve Greece's debt crisis faltered and after some lackluster earnings reports, threatening a five-day winning streak.

Greece moved closer to the possibility of a chaotic default after euro zone officials rejected a final offer from the country's private bondholders. The country's private creditors pleaded with European officials to hammer together a deal.

"They don't seem that far apart, I don't think anyone is really discounting that is going to blow up. At this point, people think they are going to come to some resolution. They have to get the pin back in the hand grenade somehow," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 44.16 points, or 0.35 percent, at 12,664.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 3.76 points, or 0.29 percent, at 1,312.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 1.00 points, or 0.04 percent, at 2,783.17.

Developments in Greece overshadowed solid, but largely unspectacular corporate earnings. This week marks one of the busiest in the fourth-quarter earnings season.

According to the latest Thomson Reuters data, 20 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, with 58 percent topping Wall Street expectations, less than usual at this point in the earnings season.

Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) and Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N) were the biggest drags on the Dow after posting quarterly results.

Travelers posted a smaller-than-estimated profit as it released less money from its reserves than a year earlier, but it also reported its biggest rate increases in eight years. The stock fell 3.6 percent to $58.10, but analysts expected the drop and called it a buying opportunity.

Verizon's profit missed estimates by a penny as its wireless business was hit by the high costs of sales of advanced phones such as the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) iPhone.

McDonald's reported stronger-than-expected December sales, but its shares fell on investor concerns its profit may have beat expectations only because of income not related to its operations.

McDonald's fell 1.9 percent to $99, and Verizon shed 1.7 percent to $37.75.

Traders said they were impressed by the market's continued ability to shrug off bad news. A five-day run has helped put the benchmark S&P index up more than 4 percent for the year.

Results from some other large U.S. corporations, including DuPont (DD.N) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) failed to ignite much enthusiasm.

"Obviously (Greece) is a pall over the market, these earnings numbers weren't that great this morning, but the way the market acts right now you could see it close up on the day. It just doesn't act that bad," said Massocca.

DuPont shares edged up 0.5 percent to $49.58 after its quarterly revenue rose 14 percent but missed estimates.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) advanced 0.4 percent at $65.25 on better-than-expected quarterly earnings, even as the diversified healthcare company forecast 2012 earnings below estimates.

The Federal Open Market Committee has begun a two-day meeting and will also start a new practice of announcing policymakers' interest rate projections when the meeting ends on Wednesday in a move it hopes will bring greater public clarity to its decision-making.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Game makers react to proposed 'Indie Game' sitcom

Just two of the humorous takes on Twitter.

By Matthew Hawkins

Last week saw the long-awaited debut of "Indie Game: The Movie," which had a world premiere at Sundance. Independent video game makers and their devoted fans believe that the documentary has the potential to shatter preconceived notions about the world of gaming as a whole.

And aside from enriching the overall landscape, there is also the hope that it may also lead to greater visibility and therefore success for everyone featured, plus their work.

So it was these same people who expressed a wide range of emotions Sunday afternoon on Twitter?in reaction to news that?HBO had picked up the rights to the remake.

Sentiment ranged from confusion to sadness, even disgust. Details on the show are fairly sparse, but there's still enough intel to upset, particularly because it sounds like it's going to be a fictional half-hour comedy series.

The fact that power-producer Scott Rudin is already attached gives the project an uncommonly high degree of name value and expectation of quality. This definitely increases the chances of it actually making it on-air.

Indie game maker Joakim Sandberg?sounded off?with: "Soon on HBO: The Indie Bang Theory." Then you have musician?Danny Baranowsky???who worked on "Super Meat Boy," one of the games featured in the movie ??who tweeted: "Indie Game: The Movie - sets acceptance of industry ahead years. Indie Game: The Comedy Series - resets game acceptance to 'lol Donkey Kong.'"

Even less happy about the situation is Phil Fish, creator of "Fez" and a major part of "Indie Game: The Movie." His overall feelings can be best summed up with: "NO SIR, I DON'T LIKE IT." I asked Phil, via Twitter, if he had sold his likeness when agreeing to be part of the project. The answer was no.

The question stemmed from another, very much well-known and successful video game documentary, 2007's "The King of Kong." When New Line Cinema bought the rights to distribute the movie, it also obtained its remake rights and had the two primary stars, Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, sign off on fictionalized likenesses, for an upcoming mockumentary remake.

In the end, there won't be a character named "Phil Fish" in the upcoming sitcom adaptation, though there maybe be the chance that someone closely resembles him ??and anyone else the source material chronicles.?And as the comments above indicate, the primary fear is that a comedic take on the lives on indie game makers risk marginalizing and making a mockery of those actually involved, and may even further reinforce erroneous stereotypes.

But not every game industry pundit is immediately down on the idea of "Indie Game: The Movie: The Sitcom." Take writer Gary Whitta, who is familiar with both the worlds of sides of the fence firsthand; he's a former game journalist and author, whose book is being adapted to a major motion picture starring Will Smith.

Whitta's response to the negative outpour? "LOL at all ppl already deciding an HBO comedy about indie developers must suck. Remember everyone saying a 'Facebook movie' would suck too?"

Related stories:

Be sure to check out In-Game on Facebook, and too keep abreast of Matthew Hawkins, on either Twitter or his personal home-base, FORT90.com.

Source: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10218918-game-makers-react-to-proposed-indie-game-sitcom

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AP IMPACT: Meth fills hospitals with burn patients

This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff?s Department shows firefighters battling a blaze from a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, at a house in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff?s Department )

This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff?s Department shows firefighters battling a blaze from a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, at a house in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff?s Department )

This photo provided Jan. 10, 2012, by the Franklin County Sheriff?s Department shows shake-and-bake meth ingredients found at house that burned from a meth lab explosion Jan. 29, 2010, in Union, Mo. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff?s Department )

This dashboard police video photo provided Jan. 17, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows what authorities say is a mobile shake-and-bake meth lab vehicle burning in August, 2011, in Clarksville, Tenn. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force)

This photo provided Jan. 19, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows shows the interior of a home in Clarksville, Tenn., damaged by a shake-and-bake meth lab explosion in December, 2011. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, Jesse Reynolds)

This photo provided Jan. 17, 2012, by the Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force shows the aftermath what authorities say is a mobile shake-and-bake meth lab vehicle that burned in August, 2011, in Clarksville, Tenn. The crude new method of making methamphetamine, by combining raw and unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle, poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment _ a burden so costly that it?s contributing to the closure of some burn units. (AP Photo/Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force)

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment ? a burden so costly that it's contributing to the closure of some burn units.

So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining raw, unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. But if the person mixing the noxious brew makes the slightest error, such as removing the cap too soon or accidentally perforating the plastic, the concoction can explode, searing flesh and causing permanent disfigurement, blindness or even death.

An Associated Press survey of key hospitals in the nation's most active meth states showed that up to a third of patients in some burn units were hurt while making meth, and most were uninsured. The average treatment costs $6,000 per day. And the average meth patient's hospital stay costs $130,000 ? 60 percent more than other burn patients, according to a study by doctors at a burn center in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The influx of patients is overwhelming hospitals and becoming a major factor in the closure of some burn wards. At least seven burn units across the nation have shut down over the past six years, partly due to consolidation but also because of the cost of treating uninsured patients, many of whom are connected to methamphetamine.

Burn experts agree the annual cost to taxpayers is well into the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, although it is impossible to determine a more accurate number because so many meth users lie about the cause of their burns.

Larger meth labs have been bursting into flame for years, usually in basements, backyard sheds or other private spaces. But those were fires that people could usually escape. Using the shake-and-bake method, drugmakers typically hold the flammable concoction up close, causing burns from the waist to the face.

"You're holding a flame-thrower in your hands," said Jason Grellner of the Franklin County, Mo., Sheriff's Department.

Also known as the "one-pot" approach, the method is popular because it uses less pseudoephedrine ? a common component in some cold and allergy pills. It also yields meth in minutes rather than hours, and it's cheaper and easier to conceal. Meth cooks can carry all the ingredients in a backpack and mix them in a bathroom stall or the seat of a car.

The improvised system first emerged several years ago, partly in response to attempts by many states to limit or forbid over-the-counter access to pseudoephedrine. Since then, the shake-and-bake recipe has spread to become the method of choice.

By 2010, about 80 percent of labs busted by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration were using shake-and-bake recipes, said Pat Johnakin, a DEA agent specializing in meth.

So instead of a large lab that supplies many users, there are now more people making meth for their personal use. The consequences are showing up in emergency rooms and burn wards.

"From what we see on the medical side, that's the primary reason the numbers seem to be going up: greater numbers of producers making smaller batches," said Dr. Michael Smock, director of the burn unit at Mercy Hospital St. Louis.

It's impossible to know precisely how many people are burned while making shake-and-bake meth. Some avoid medical treatment, and no one keeps exact track of those who go to the hospital. But many burn centers in the nation's most active meth-producing states report sharp spikes in the number of patients linked to meth. And experts say the trend goes well beyond those facilities, easily involving thousands of drug users.

The director of the burn center at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, the state that led the nation in meth lab seizures in 2010, said meth injuries are doubly damaging because patients often suffer thermal burn from the explosion, as well as chemical burns. And the medical challenge is compounded by patients' addictions.

"You're not judgmental in this kind of work, but you see it day after day," said Vanderbilt's Dr. Jeffrey Guy. "We've had patients say, 'I'm going out for a smoke,' and they come back all jacked up. It's clear they went out and did meth again."

Few people burned by meth will admit it.

"We get a lot of people who have strange stories," said Dr. David Greenhalgh, past president of the American Burn Association and director of the burn center at the University of California, Davis. "They'll say they were working on the carburetor at 2 or 3 in the morning and things blew up. So we don't know for sure, but 25 to 35 percent of our patients are meth-positive when we check them."

Guy cited a similar percentage at Vanderbilt, which operates the largest burn unit in Tennessee. He said the lies can come with a big price because the chemicals used in meth-making are often as dangerous as the burns themselves.

He recalled the case of a woman who arrived with facial burns that she said were caused by a toaster. As a result, she didn't tell doctors that meth-making chemicals got into her eyes, delaying treatment.

"Now she's probably going to be blind because she wasn't honest about it," Guy said.

In Indiana, about three-quarters of meth busts now involve shake-and-bake. And injuries are rising sharply, mostly because of burns, said Niki Crawford of the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Team.

Indiana had 89 meth-related injuries during the 10-year period ending in 2009. The state has had 70 in the last 23 months, mostly from shake-and-bake labs, Crawford said.

What's more, meth-related burns often sear some of the body's most sensitive areas ? the face and hands.

"I don't think a lot of these patients will be able to re-enter society, said Dr. Lucy Wibbenmeyer of the burn center at the University of Iowa. "They'll need rehab therapy, occupational therapy, which is very expensive."

Researchers at the University of Iowa found that people burned while making meth typically have longer hospital stays and more expensive bills than other burn patients ? bills that are frequently absorbed by the hospital since a vast majority of the meth-makers lack insurance.

Medicaid provides reimbursement for many patients lacking private insurance, but experts say it amounts to pennies on the dollar.

Doctors at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich., performed a five-year study of meth patients in the early 2000s, then a follow-up study in 2009-2010. Their investigation concurred with the Iowa findings. The Kalamazoo study also found that meth burn victims were more likely to suffer damage to the lungs and windpipe, spent more time on ventilators and needed surgery more often.

That report also found that only about 10 percent of meth patients had private insurance coverage, compared with 59 percent of other patients. And in many cases, their injuries leave them unable to work.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-23-Meth-Severe%20Burns/id-c0bd910f1f04435a8092acd8534b2a00

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Sigourney Weaver Not Optimistic About 'Ghostbusters 3'

'Red Lights' actress also updates MTV News on 'Avatar' sequel status.
By Josh Wigler, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Sigourney Weaver at Sundance 2012
Photo: Getty Images

PARK CITY, Utah — Even at the Sundance Film Festival, genre icon Sigourney Weaver just can't stay away from the supernatural. The actress has a lead role in director Rodrigo Cortés' new paranormal thriller, "Red Lights" — which made its polarizing debut at Park City's Eccles Center on Friday (January 20) — as skeptical scientist Margaret Matheson.

Naturally, Weaver has some experience dealing with spooks and scares, having played the endlessly haunted Dana Barrett in two "Ghostbusters" films. But at this rate, it's looking decreasingly likely that she'll reprise Peter Venkman's former flame for a third time — largely because Venkman himself has seemingly put the proton pack away for good.

At Sundance, MTV News asked Weaver about recent reports that Bill Murray not only turned down the latest draft of "Ghostbusters 3," but actually shredded the script and sent the scraps to former co-stars and franchise stewards Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. "You know, I've heard about that too," she said. "It's Bill, so it could very well be true."

Weaver has yet to read a "Ghostbusters 3" script herself. Taking that fact with rumors about Murray's complete disinterest, Weaver had to admit, "Maybe it's not a good sign."

The news is much more optimistic for another genre film franchise Weaver's involved in: "Avatar." The actress said that she's been in regular contact with director James Cameron about a return trip to Pandora, but doesn't expect it to happen in the immediate future.

"We've had a couple of talks, but he's busy," she said. "He has a very ambitious goal to be the person to take a submersible down to the lowest point in the Marianas Trench, which he wants to accomplish this year. 'Avatar' will happen after that."

For her part, despite her irrevocable status as one of cinema's most badass action heroes, Weaver has precisely zero interest in joining Cameron on one of his undersea adventures.

"He's been kind enough to invite me," she said. "But I know I'd disgrace myself by screaming and shrieking and soiling myself!"

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is officially under way, and the MTV Movies team is on the ground reporting on the hottest stars and the movies everyone will be talking about in the year to come. Keep it locked with MTV Movies for everything there is to know about Sundance.

Related Videos

• Sundance 2012: Interviews From Park City

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• Sundance 2012: Behind The Scenes Photos
• Celebrities Hit The Ground At Sundance 2012 Film Fest

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677685/ghostbusters-3-sigourney-weaver.jhtml

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'Starship Troopers' Reboot Has Casper Van Dien's Full Support

Even if you apes don't want to live forever, any and all "Starship Troopers" fans have to agree that Johnny Rico is an icon that will never, ever die ? even if his likeness changes a bit in the coming years.
MTV News caught up with "Troopers" veteran Casper Van Dien at the Sundance Film Festival [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/21/starship-troopers-reboot-casper-van-dien/

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Saudis quit Arab mission in Syria

BEIRUT?? Even as the Arab League extended an observers' mission to Syria by a month , Saudi Arabia said Sunday it was withdrawing Saudi observers because the mission had failed to end 10 months of bloodshed.

"My country will withdraw its monitors because the Syrian government did not execute any of the elements of the Arab resolution plan," Prince Saud al-Faisal told fellow Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo.

"We are calling on the international community to bear its responsibility, and that includes our brothers in Islamic states and our friends in Russia, China, Europe and the United States," Saud said, calling for "all possible pressure" to push Syria to adhere to the Arab peace plan.

Saudi Arabia has been one of the harshest Arab critics of the crackdown, It recalled its ambassador from Damascus last year in protest.

Also Sunday, Syrian forces and army defectors clashed in a suburb of the tightly held capital of Damascus ? a sign that citizen protests against President Bashar Assad might turn into civil war.

Arab League foreign ministers extended the much-criticized mission and decided to add more observers and provide them with additional resources, officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to reporters, said the U.N. would train the observers.

The observer mission is supposed to be the first step toward implementing an Arab League plan to end the Syria crisis. Other points are pulling heavy Syrian weapons out of cities, stopping attacks on protesters, opening talks with the opposition and allowing foreign human rights workers and journalists in.

"There is partial progress in the implementation of the promises," Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said in Cairo about Syria's implementation of the plan. Syria "did not carry out all its promises, although there are some implementation of pledges."

He added that the use of "extreme force" by Syrian forces have led to a reaction by the opposition "in what could lead to civil war."

So far the observer mission has not gone well. Though some credit it with tamping down violence in some places, the Local Coordination Committees activist group said Sunday that 976 people, including 54 children and 28 women, have been killed since the observers began their mission last month.

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The U.N. estimates some 5,400 have been killed since it began in March.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the Arab League to "maximize" the effectiveness of the mission of the observers in Syria "to stop the killings."

"The deployment of the observers, has been disappointing ... Assad played games with observers," by moving around forces instead of removing them from cities, while the killing continues, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

The Arab League faced three options Sunday: ending the mission and giving up its initiative, extending it, or turning the crisis over to the U.N. Security Council, as some opposition groups have urged. There, however, it would face a possible stalemate because of disagreements among permanent members over how far to go in forcing Assad's hand.

Story: Rights group: West hasn't embraced Arab Spring

The mission's one-month mandate technically expired on Thursday.

The pullout of Assad's security forces from the Damascus suburb of Douma marked the second time in a week that troops have redeployed from an area near the tightly-controlled Syrian capital, an indication that Assad might be losing some control.

Diplomacy has taken on urgency as opponents of Assad's regime and soldiers who switched sides increasingly take up arms and fight back against government forces.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' head Rami Abdul-Rahman said government troops had pulled back early Sunday to a provincial headquarters and a security agency building in the Damascus suburb of Douma after hours of clashes, although they still controlled the entrances. The clashes broke out after Syrian troops opened fire at a funeral on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, the battles resumed between the defectors and troops loyal to Assad, according to the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group. The LCC said that heavy machine gun fire was used in the clashes, and five people were killed.

Abdul-Rahman had no information on casualties from the clashes but said security forces at an entrance checkpoint shot dead one man who was passing by on Sunday. He added that one person was shot dead in a nearby town of Rankous as well as another person in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The LCC said 12 people were killed in Syria Sunday. The LCC and the Observatory reported intense gunfire in the central city of Homs that left at least one person dead.

State-run news agency SANA said gunmen opened fire at the car of an army brigadier general, killing him and another army officers who was in the vehicle.

Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso confirmed that security forces had abandoned Douma.

A video posted by activists on social media showed five masked gunmen, one of them in uniform, who read a statement saying, "the city of Douma has been liberated from Assad's gangs." He warned Syrian troops not to try enter Douma or defectors would "fire rockets at the presidential palace" in Damascus and execute five prisoners they are holding.

The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the video.

Also Sunday, state-run SANA, said an estimated 5,255 Syrian prisoners have been released over the past week under an amnesty, raising the total freed since November to more than 9,000. Opposition groups say thousands are still being held.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Syria as the bloodshed escalates. The U.S. has long called for Assad to step down, and officials say his regime's demise is inevitable.

Two U.S. Senators plan to introduce a bill to stiffen the sanctions.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York would require President Barack Obama to identify violators of human rights in Syria, call for reform and offer protection to pro-democracy demonstrators. It would also block financial aid and property transactions in the United States involving Syrian leaders involved in the crackdown.

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

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46091558/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Maldives vice president ashamed by judge's arrest (AP)

MALE, Maldives ? The Maldives vice president said Saturday that he is "ashamed and totally devastated" that the government in which he is a member has arrested a criminal court judge in violation of his freedom from arbitrary arrest.

In a clear indication of divisions within President Mohamed Nasheed's government, Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan blogged that he wondered if the struggles that freed the nation from a 30-year autocracy had been wasted.

"The most important and most precious dividend from the democracy struggle in Maldives has been freedom from fear. It is the knowledge that no one of us will be dragged out of our beds in the middle of the night and taken to an undisclosed location," Waheed wrote.

"The moment we deny this freedom from one person, we deny that freedom for all."

The military arrested Criminal Court Chief Justice Abdulla Mohamed on Monday after he ordered the release of a government critic detained without a warrant. He is still being held on an island the military uses for training in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The country's Supreme Court and the prosecutor general have called for Mohamed's release and the arrest has triggered street protests. The government accuses the judge of corruption and political bias.

A defiant Nasheed speaking to hundreds of his supporters Saturday justified the military's action, saying disputes such as the one with Maldives' judiciary are common in new democracies and the military plays a big role in resolving them.

He explained the arrest came only after the Judicial Service Commission, mandated to examine the conduct of judges, failed to take action on his complaints against Mohamed and that it was not to hurt him personally.

"As the democratically elected president of the Maldives, I will do anything to uphold the constitution," he said.

Both Nasheed and Waheed were leading pro-democracy campaigners before being elected to office in the country's first multiparty election in 2008.

"We have just witnessed the first possible violation since the dawn of democracy in our country. I cannot understand why this is not an issue for everyone in this country," Waheed said, adding that the country's youth and the educated are not taking an interest in the issue.

The arrest has sparked regular street protests which have been broken up by police using tear gas.

Maldives journalists have accused the government of intimidation and threats against those reporting on the political dispute and the judge's arrest.

The government has also accused opposition protesters of destroying public property, attacking journalists and vandalizing the home of a minister.

The Maldives Human Rights Commission said it has visited the arrested judge at the military facility and that he is in good health and has not been subjected to any degrading treatment. But the commission expressed concerns about the arrest and detention of the judge without access to a lawyer and also the arrest of two opposition politicians during a protest on Friday.

Maldives is known for its idyllic resorts for upmarket tourists.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_as/as_maldives_politics

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Power outages in Northwest could continue for days (AP)

SEATTLE ? A Pacific Northwest storm that brought snow, ice and powerful winds left a mess of fallen trees and power lines Friday as tens of thousands of residents already without power faced the prospect of a cold, dark weekend and flooding became a top region-wide concern.

While temperatures warmed and the icy, snowy conditions abated in western Washington and Oregon, slick roads and fast-melting snow brought challenges for road workers, city officials and rescue crews. The region also faces more rain as swelling rivers lead to the worst flooding some Oregon counties have seen in more than a decade.

"It's definitely a trial we get to endure," said Jeanette Donigan, whose Turner, Ore., home was surrounded by floodwater, leaving her and her family to seek shelter nearby. "But earthly possessions can be replaced, as long as we got our children to higher ground."

The storm system has been blamed for three deaths that include those of a mother and her 1-year-old boy, who died after torrential rain swept away a car from an Albany, Ore., grocery store parking lot on Wednesday night; and an elderly man fatally injured Thursday by a falling tree as he was backing an all-terrain vehicle out of a backyard shed near Seattle.

On Mount Rainier, a blizzard kept rescuers from continuing a search Friday on Washington's Mount Rainier for two campers and two climbers missing in the storm since early this week.

Meanwhile, the system continued its plod east, bringing a first major snowstorm for the winter to parts of the Midwest. More than 700 flights were cancelled in Chicago, the bulk of them at O'Hare International Airport.

The rain in western Oregon resumed Friday, though not as heavily as the previous two days, and forecasters said the Northwest can expect more rain, mountain snow and winds for a week.

A 35-year-old woman who drove a Ford Mustang into 4 feet of floodwaters in Oregon's Willamette Valley was plucked from the roof Friday by deputies who arrived by boat to save her. It was one of a number of dramatic rescues in western Oregon, left sodden by as much as 10 inches of rain in a day and a half that has brought region's worst flooding in 15 years.

Interstate 5, the main arterial connecting Seattle and Portland, was briefly closed Friday morning in both directions near Centralia so crews could remove fallen power lines. Amtrak trains weren't running Friday between Seattle and Portland, because of trees and other debris that fell on the tracks.

Northbound lanes of the interstate in Everett, north of Seattle, were closed much of the morning following a tractor-trailer accident. Around midday, Washington State Patrol troopers closed both Tacoma Narrows bridges, which connect Tacoma with communities to the west, because of large ice chunks falling onto the bridge deck.

In Seattle, residents were asked for help clearing the city's 80,000 storm drains.

Puget Sound Energy used three helicopters Friday to check its transmission lines as crews repair damage from Thursday's ice storm. There were still about 240,000 without power late Friday afternoon, including 230,000 PSE customers, mostly around Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia. New outages were still being reported Friday. The utility it could take into the weekend or later to get the power back on.

Much of Washington's capital city, Olympia, was without power. Gov. Chris Gregoire's office, legislative buildings and other state agencies in Olympia lost electricity for several hours before power was restored. Lawmakers are in the midst of a 60-day session, but some hearings were canceled on Friday. On the main street through downtown, tree limbs littered a park and sidewalks. Main roads were clear, but many residential roads in the area weren't plowed, and at least one power line had fallen.

Cathie Butler, a spokeswoman for the City of Olympia said they were dealing with "the fallout from all of the heavy ice and snow on the trees."

Butler said that in addition to first dealing with downed trees and limbs and power lines, the city wants to get snowplows back out to clear primary roads and snow that is piled up on drains.

"We want to try to clear some of that away from the drains so as it starts to rain this weekend the snow and ice have somewhere to go," she said.

Nancy Kolnen of Issaquah was without power, and had to throw out food in the fridge and layer up to keep warm at night. By Friday, power hadn't returned and she had no idea when it would.

"Well, going into the weekend, I'm kind of looking forward to (the snow) because it's nice if you don't have to drive in it, but if I get home and don't have power all weekend, I won't enjoy that," Kolnen said.

It was still snowing in the Cascades, with up to 2 feet possible in the mountains over the weekend. In Eastern Washington, forecasters expect more snow Friday or freezing rain before warming temperatures on Saturday raise the snow level above the valley floors in some areas.

Sea-Tac Airport was open Friday, and airlines were trying to accommodate passengers whose flights were canceled Thursday. The largest carrier at the airport, Alaska Airlines, canceled 50 of its 120 daily departures Friday. On Thursday, Alaska and sister airline Horizon canceled 310 flights to and from Seattle, affecting 29,000 passengers.

In Seattle, Carly Nelson was negotiating an icy sidewalk on her way to Starbucks. Nelson has been frequenting her neighborhood coffee shop to avoid cabin fever.

"I'm pretty tired of it. It gets old pretty fast. All my friends are stranded in little pockets and you can't get together to go to yoga," she said. "I'm just looking forward to being able to go wherever I want to go."

___

Cooper reported from Oregon. Associated Press writers Doug Esser, Ted Warren, Rachel La Corte, Nigel Duara and Nicholas K. Geranios contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_us/us_northwest_storm

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China braces for Year of the Dragon travel rush

By David Lom

?

As hundreds of millions of Chinese head home to celebrate the New Year with their families, the country's transportation system is struggling to accomodate nearly 3.2 billion passenger trips.

BEIJING ? It?s as if the entire population of the United States took to the road several times over. During China?s ?chunyun? or Spring Festival travel season, the 40-day period that began earlier this month, more than 3.2 billion passenger-trips will tax the country?s transportation system in what is thought to be the world's largest human migration ever.

---

On the Chinese lunar calendar, 2012 will be the Year of the Dragon, which is of special importance to the Chinese.? As legend goes, the Chinese consider themselves descendants of the dragon, the only mythic creature in the Chinese 12-animal zodiac.

According to age-old tradition, the festival to greet the Chinese New Year that begins on Monday is a time for family reunions. Since millions of Chinese are migrant workers who spend most of the year separated from their families working hundreds of miles from home, the New Year holiday is the often the one time they go home.

About a quarter billion travelers will load onto China?s over-burdened rail network.? Despite a new online ticketing system and hotlines, many have complained of difficulties and delays in buying train tickets.? Still, for many Chinese, the ticketing problems and prospect of long ride in crowded condition are small price to pay for the once-in-a-year family reunions.

Watch NBC News? David Lom report from the scene above.

Source: http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10199312-china-braces-for-year-of-the-dragon-travel-rush

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Christie to Romney: Release tax return immediately (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Gov. Chris Christie is urging political ally Mitt Romney to immediately release his tax returns rather than waiting until April.

The New Jersey governor tells NBC's "Today" show Romney should "put them out sooner than later because it's always better to have full disclosure."

Romney's taxes have emerged as an issue days before the South Carolina primary. He agreed in Monday night's debate to consider making his tax returns public, and then committed to releasing them on Tuesday. But the multi-millionaire candidate now is on the defensive after acknowledging that his effective tax rate is 15 percent, saying most of his income came from investments and speeches rather than earned income. Christie says he wants to remain as governor, but he wouldn't rule out joining a Romney ticket.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_el_ge/us_christie_romney

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Wikipedia, Google protest US antipiracy proposals (AP)

NEW YORK ? January 18 is a date that will live in ignorance, as Wikipedia started a 24-hour blackout of its English-language articles, joining other sites in a protest of pending U.S. legislation aimed at shutting down sites that share pirated movies and other content.

Reddit.com shut down its social news service for 12 hours. Other sites made their views clear without cutting off surfers. Google blacked out the logo on its home page, directing surfers to a page where they could add their names to a petition against the bills.

Local listings site Craiglist took a middle route, changing its local home pages to a black screen directing users to an anti-legislation page. After 10 seconds, a link to the main site appears on the home page, but some surfers missed that and were fooled into thinking the whole site was blacked out.

The Internet companies are concerned that the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in the Senate, if passed, could be used to target legitimate sites where users share content.

The 24-hour Wikipedia blackout is an unprecedented move for the online encyclopedia. The decision was reached after polling the community of contributors, but dissenters say political advocacy undermines the site's mission as a neutral source.

However, it's not complete: the block can be bypassed by changing browser settings to disable JavaScript, or by using the version of the site designed for cellphone screens.

There's also a "mirror" or copy, of Wikipedia called The Free Dictionary, but it's not up to date.

___

Online:

Wikipedia for mobiles: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/

"Mirror" site of Wikipedia: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_internet_protest

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Twitter War: Chicago Versus Boston (TIME)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/187405957?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Iran and US: Could they talk war into happening?

Analysts warn about the dangers of rhetoric as the stage appears set for a highly volatile year with both the United States and Iran preparing for elections.

With this month's assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist ? widely seen as part of a covert war ? and impending sanctions targeting Iran's oil industry, tensions between the Islamic Republic and the West have escalated to their highest pitch in years.

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What began as a US-led carrot-and-stick policy designed to goad Iran into dropping any aspirations of developing nuclear weapons has turned into a purely punitive approach that leaves Iranian leaders little reason to cooperate, say analysts. "[Iranian leaders] have very few tools in their tool kit right now, and in a sense we have pushed them into a corner with sanctions," says Anoushiravan Ehteshami, an Iran specialist at Durham University in England.

"So what else do they have to lose? If they retaliate, they can change the game a bit, and that's what they are doing," says Mr. Ehteshami. "Of course, when you start changing the game a bit, you don't quite control how much you change. You can unleash all kinds of forces."

Indeed, the stage appears set for a highly volatile year, as both the United States and Iran prepare for important elections, Tehran faces key decisions on its nuclear program, and an Iranian-American convicted of spying sits on death row in Iran.

When Iran's supreme religious leader looked out on his nation's strategic landscape in mid-November, he saw many gathering storm clouds. Enemies were readying tougher sanctions ? perhaps to embargo oil, Iran's economic lifeblood. They were killing Iranian nuclear scientists. They had sent a computer virus to disrupt Iran's uranium enrichment. Their agents were reportedly inside Iran, replacing street signs and bricks in buildings with new ones equipped with radiation detectors.

And the United Nations nuclear watchdog had just published details of alleged "systematic" nuclear weapons-related work by Iran through late 2003, and declared of "particular concern" more episodic work as recently as 2009 ? prompting fresh global opprobrium.

So Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a warning. "Iran is not a nation to sit still and just observe threats from fragile materialistic powers which are being eaten by worms from inside," he told military college students in Tehran. "Iran will respond with full force to any aggression or even threats in a way that will demolish the aggressors from within."

Since then, Mr. Khamenei has stayed true to his promise. When the US and Israel staged or announced military exercises in the neighborhood, so did Iran, unveiling new rocket and missile capabilities.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/XYE-IK0HaVg/Iran-and-US-Could-they-talk-war-into-happening

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HTC unlocks bootloaders on Desire Z, ChaCha, Aria, DROID Incredible, Status, T-Mobile G2

HTC has continued updating their developer site bootloader unlock tool with new devices and this time around they've gone ahead and added:

• HTC Desire Z
• HTC ChaCha
• HTC Aria
• Droid Incredible
• HTC Status
• T-Mobile G2

If you have any of those devices, and are wishing to have the bootloader unlocked then you can hit up the HTCDev site below to get started. Not sure what your bootloader is or if you want it unlocked? Check out our Android A to Z covering what, exactly a bootloader is.

Source: HTCDev; via @HTCDev

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/k2CxFPW01Kg/story01.htm

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Israeli-US war games postponed (AP)

JERUSALEM ? The Israeli and U.S. militaries have postponed large-scale war games, in part to avoid aggravating mounting tensions between the international community and Iran over its disputed nuclear program, Israeli defense officials said Monday.

The missile defense exercise, dubbed "Austere Challenge 12," was scheduled for April to improve defense systems and cooperation between U.S. and Israeli forces. The Israeli military confirmed in a one-line statement that the drill would be rescheduled for the second half of 2012, but did not disclose reasons for the postponement or any other details.

The defense officials who linked the deferral to Iran spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the decision-making process. They offered no other reasons for the delay.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said it was a "joint" decision with the U.S. to defer the military exercise. "The thinking was it was not the right timing now to conduct such an exercise," he said. He refused to elaborate.

Thousands of American and Israeli soldiers were to take part in the exercise, which was designed to test multiple Israeli and U.S. air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets from places as far away as Iran.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that the drill exemplified unprecedented levels of defense cooperation between the two countries meant to back up Washington's "unshakable" commitment to Israel's security.

On Thursday, the top U.S. military commander is due to arrive in Israel for his first official trip since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Sept. 30. Iran is expected to be at the top of Army Gen. Martin Dempsey's agenda for talks with the Israelis.

Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran to be a threat to its survival and repeatedly has hinted it could take military action against the Islamic Republic should international sanctions fail to stop Iran's nuclear development.

The Obama administration is concerned that Iran's recent claim that it is expanding nuclear operations might prod Israel closer to a strike.

Iran, which denies it is trying to develop nuclear weapons, has shown no sign it would willingly give up a project that has become a point of national pride.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is designed to produce energy, not bombs. It has threatened to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passage for one-sixth of the world's oil, should international sanctions block Iran's petroleum exports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the sanctions on Iran were not effective.

"The current sanctions have harmed the Iranians but not in a way that would stop their nuclear program," he told Israeli lawmakers. "Without significant sanctions against the central bank and their ability to export Iranian oil, Iran will continue to progress with its nuclear plans."

The U.S. has enacted a law banning transactions with Iran's central bank, but it does not take effect until later this year.

Netanyahu's comments were relayed by a meeting participant, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_us

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UK retailers beginning to offer up dates for official Galaxy Nexus accessories

 

In the United Kingdom, we're fortunate enough to have had the brilliant Samsung Galaxy Nexus since mid-November. Almost two months on from release, what we're still yet to see are any of the OEM accessories for the device. Two of the leading British online retailers for mobile equipment, Expansys and Clove Technology, have now started to offer some actual timeframes for getting their stock of the accessories in. Both companies though have quite different expected release dates. 

Clove have got the full range, including the sweet looking vehicle mount shown here, showing "first stock expected mid-January." We're in mid-January now, so this could mean we won't have to wait much longer. 

Expansys however are expecting to release the items on Feb 29. A significant difference from the Clove expectations, but it's important to note that Expansys are not always in first with what they sell. It's a lot more pinpoint though than "mid-January." 

Hopefully we really won't have too much longer to wait. Theres a lot to be said for utilising official OEM accessories, and my wallet is crying out to buy them. 

Source: Expansys, Clove

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/y15sY-s0_hA/story01.htm

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Thai police raid warehouse in terror probe (AP)

BANGKOK ? A Thai television station is reporting that a Lebanese suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah militants has led police to a warehouse housing materials that could be used to make explosives.

Thai PBS television showed police confiscating boxes of urea fertilizer and liquid ammonium nitrate in Monday's raid.

The raid comes after the U.S. and Israel warned Friday of a terror threat targeting their citizens in Bangkok. Officials say that threat has now been thwarted.

The Lebanese suspect was detained Thursday. He led police to the warehouse, where police also found three beds, matching accounts that the man was traveling with two companions.

The terror alert came amid growing tensions over U.S. and Israeli responses to Iran's nuclear program.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_terror_threat

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Captain of cruise ship that ran aground arrested

Gregorio Borgia / AP

Rocks emerge from the damaged side of the Costa Concordia.

By NBC, msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated 6:55 p.m. ET: Rescue workers found two people still alive on a capsized Italian cruise ship, state television reported?Sunday, according to Reuters.

The Italian news agency ANSA?quoted rescuers as saying the two survivors were found in good condition in a cabin late Saturday and were being brought out.

Fire officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment near the tiny island of Giglio, where the Costa Concordia went aground and turned on its side Friday night, leaving three people dead and forcing some 4,000 aboard to evacuate.

Firefighters on the ship had heard the voices of a man and a woman several decks below where they were searching.

More than 4,200 passengers were aboard the Costa Concordia?when it?apparently struck rocks near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, ripping a hole in its hull and forcing thousands to escape in a chaotic, terrifying evacuation.

Three bodies have been recovered and authorities said late Saturday that about?40 people were still unaccounted for.

Updated 5:55 p.m. ET: The captain of the 4,200-pasenger luxury?cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Tuscany has been detained, authorities said Saturday.

Francesco Schettino?is being investigated for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, police said, according to Reuters. He was taken to a jail in the provincial capital Grosseto to await questioning by a magistrate.

Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia ran aground near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, ripping a hole in its hull and forcing thousands to escape in a chaotic, terrifying evacuation. Some 40 people are still unaccounted for.

Experts have questioned how Schettino, the 52-year-old captain with 11 years working for the ship's owner, could hit so close to the island of Giglio given Italy's well mapped sea lanes.

Panic ensues after a luxury cruise ship dubbed the "Floating Temple of Fun" runs aground off Italy. NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.

The chief prosecutor in the Tuscan city of Grosseto, Francesco Verusio, was quoted by the ANSA news agency as telling reporters that the captain "very ineptly got close to Giglio," The Associated Press reported.

"The ship struck a reef that got stuck inside the left side, making it (the ship) lean over and take on a lot of water in the space of two, three minutes," he said.

Schettino was at the command, and it was "he who ordered the route, that's what it appears to us. It was a deliberate" choice to follow that route, ANSA quote him as saying.

Get the latest updates from breakingnews.com

Slideshow: Luxury ship runs aground

It quoted Schettino's lawyer, Bruno Leporatti as saying his client understands why he was being detained but that "as his defender, I'd like to say that several hundred people owed their life to the expertise that the commander of the Costa Concordia showed during the emergency."

ANSA quoted Francesco Schettino's sister, Giulia, as saying her brother called their mother, 80-year-old Rosa, at 5 in the morning, saying "Mamma, there has been a tragedy. But stay calm. I tried to save the passengers. But for a while, I won't be able to phone you."

Schettino hails from Meta di Sorrento, in the Naples area where many of Italy's ferry and cruise boat captains are from. Giulia Schettino was quoted by ANSA as saying that he also asked to speak to his brother, Salvatore, who also is a sailor, to tell him what happened aboard.

ANSA reported Schettino was taken to Grosseto's jail, to be held until next week, when a judge will decide whether he should be released or formally put under arrest. The courthouse was closed late Saturday and couldn't be reached.

In Italy, suspects can be held without charge for a few days for investigation. A judge must either validate the jailing, putting the suspect under arrest, or declare him free to go.

A U.S. State Department official says the latest estimate is that there were 126 Americans among the 4,200-plus people aboard the Costa Concordia. No Americans were injured, the official said.

This is the second fatal accident involving a Costa ship in the past two years. In February 2010, Costa Europa collided with a pier in Egypt, killing three crewmembers.

Updated 1:35 p.m. ET: Italian authorities?were questioning the captain of?the 4,200-passenger luxury?cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, CNN reports.

Authorities want to know why the ship didn't issue?a mayday call?during the accident near the Italian island of Giglio on Friday night, according to the report.

"At the moment we can't exclude that the ship had some kind of technical problem, and for this reason moved towards the coast in order to save the passengers, the crew and the ship. But they didn't send a mayday," said officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno, accordng to CNN.?"The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures were already ongoing."

The captain, Francesco Schettino, was being interviewed by investigators, Del Santo said.

Three bodies have been recovered and 70 people are still unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, Costa Cruises, the company that runs the ship, has issued?a statement that reads in part:

"On the basis of the initial evidence - still preliminary - Costa Concordia, under the command of Master Francesco Schettino, was sailing its regularly scheduled itinerary from Civitavecchia to Savona, Italy, when the ship struck a submerged rock.

"Captain Schettino, who was on the bridge at the time, immediately understood the severity of the situation and performed a maneuver intended to protect both guests and crew, and initiated security procedures to prepare for an eventual ship evacuation.

"Unfortunately, that operation was complicated by a sudden tilting of the ship that made disembarkation difficult.

?Original story:

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy -- Survivors from a luxury cruise ship that ran aground and tipped over in shallow waters off the coast of Tuscany on Saturday recounted scenes of chaos,?with frightened passengers crawling along upended hallways and some leaping into the sea?trying to reach safety.

"Have you seen 'Titanic?' That's exactly what it was," said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was traveling with her sister and parents on the first of two cruises around the Mediterranean. They all bore dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along nearly vertical hallways and stairwells, trying to reach rescue boats.

Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the tiny island of Giglio near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, tearing a 160-foot gash in its hull and sending in a rush of water.?Italian news agency ANSA said the dead were two French passengers and a Peruvian crewman.

Up to?70 people were still unaccounted for Saturday among the more than 4,300 passengers and crew who were on board, the Italian coast guard said.

Cmmdr. Cosimo Nicastro, spokesman for the Italian coast guard, told Sky TG24 TV there were no firm indications that anyone was trapped inside the ship. But he noted rescuers carried out an extensive search of the waters near the ship for hours and "we would have seen bodies."

He said it's possible those unaccounted for "might be is in the belly of the ship."

NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome estimated 100 Americans may have been on board. There were no reports of serious injuries to Americans,?based on information provided by local officials.

By?Saturday morning, the ship was lying virtually flat off Giglio's coast, its starboard side submerged in the water and the huge gash showing clearly on its upturned hull.

Nicastro said divers will continue to search for survivors for the next two or three days. It's a dangerous operation because the ship could sink another?230 feet, he said.

Passengers who escaped complained the crew failed to give instructions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.

Passengers: 'Unorganized' crew, no evacuation drills
Melissa Goduti, 28, of Wallingford, Connecticut, who had set out on the cruise of the Mediterranean hours earlier, called the entire trip "unorganized" from the start.

"It was so unorganized. Our evacuation drill was [not]?scheduled [until] 5 p.m." said. "We had joked, 'What if something had happened today?'"

"We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing,"?said Ananias' ?mother, Georgia Ananias, 61. "We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls."

She choked up as she recounted the moment when an Argentine couple handed her their 3-year-old daughter, unable to keep their balance as the ship lurched to the side and the family found themselves standing on a wall. "He said 'take my baby,'" Georgia Ananias said, covering her mouth with her hand as she teared up. "I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn't want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn't hold her.

"I thought that was the end and I thought they should be with their baby," she said.

Stringer/ Reuters

Passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano after a cruise ship ran aground

Passenger Maria Parmegiano Alfonsi told Sky Italia television that they were "sitting down to dinner and we heard this big bang."

"I think it hit some rocks. There was a lot of panic, the tables overturned, glasses were flying all over the place and we ran for the decks where we put on our lifevests," she said.

"We had a blackout and everybody was just screaming. All the passengers were running up and down and then we went to our cabins to get to know what is going on," said another passenger, who did not give his name.

"They said we should stay calm, it is nothing, it's just some electrical problem or just some blackout thing," the man added.

Helicopters plucked to safety some people who were trapped on the ship, some survivors were rescued by boats in the area, and witnesses said some people jumped from the ship into the dark, cold sea.

Passengers Alan and Laurie Willits from Wingham, Ontario, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, said they were watching the magic show in the ship's main theater when they felt an inital lurch, as if from a severe steering maneuver, followed a few seconds later by a "shudder" that tipped trash cans over. The subsequent listing of the ship made the theater curtains seem like they were standing on their side.

"And then the magician disappeared," Laurie Willits said, and panicked audience members fled for their cabins as well.

Once at their life boat station, crew members directed passengers to go upstairs from the fourth floor deck; Alan Willits said he refused.

"I said 'No, this isn't right.' And I came out and I argued, 'When you get this boat stabilized, I'll go up to the fifth floor then," he said. Eventually, his lifeboat was lowered down.

But things didn't improve for passengers once they were on safe ground.

"No one counted us, neither in the lifeboats nor on land," said Ophelie Gondelle, 28, a French military officer from Marseille. She said there had been no evacuation drill since she boarded in Marseille, France on Jan. 8.

The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on Giglio, a popular vacation isle about 18 miles off Italy's central west coast.

Passengers sat dazed in a middle school opened for them, wrapped in wool or aluminum blankets, with some wearing their life preservers and their shoeless feet covered with aluminum foil. Civil protection crews served them warm tea and bread, but confusion reigned supreme as passengers tried desperately to find the right bus to begin their journey home.

Tanja Berto, from Ebenfurth, Austria, was shuttled from one line to another with her mother and 2-year-old son Bruno, trying to figure out how to get back to Savona, where they began their cruise a week ago.

"It's his birthday today," she said of her son, rolling her eyes as she held Bruno and tended to her mother, who had grown faint and was lying on the ground. "Happy birthday, Bruno."

The island's mayor, Sergio Ortelli, issued an appeal for islanders ? "anyone with a roof" ? to open their homes to shelter the evacuees.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Francesco Paolillo said the exact circumstances of the accident were still unclear, but that the first alarm went off about 10:30 p.m., about three hours after the Concordia had begun its voyage from the port of Civitavecchia, en route to its first port of call, Savona, in northwestern Italy.

Paolillo, speaking from the port captain's office in the Tuscan port of Livorno, said the vessel "hit an obstacle" ? it wasn't clear if it might have hit a rocky reef in the waters off Giglio ? "ripping a gash 50 meters (160 feet) across" in the side of the ship, and started taking on water.

The cruise liner's captain, Paolillo said, then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio's small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier. But after the ship started listing badly, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, Paolillo said, so authorities dispatched helicopters.

Costa Cruises said the Costa Concordia was sailing on a cruise across the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Civitavecchia with scheduled calls to Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.

The Concordia had a previous accident in Italian waters, ANSA reported. In 2008, when strong winds buffeted Palermo, the cruise ship banged against the Sicilian port's dock, and suffered damage but no one was injured, ANSA said.

NBC News, The Associated Press, Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this story.

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Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/14/10156346-titanic-like-scene-passengers-recount-panic-on-cruise-ship-that-ran-aground-off-italy

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