Video: Pope Benedict XVI to step down at sunset

>> it's a moving scene as pope benedict addressed the cardinals and shared a private moment for many of them. as you watch this, you have to realize it's probable one of the men he just spoke to over the last hour or so will be the next pope.

>> that's right. it's a bit of a surprise benedict addressed the cardinals at all. he made that point. among you there is a future pope. he vowed to give reference and support to that next pope. i'm actually standing with cardinal timothy dolan , one of the cardinals to greet the pope. we will speak to him live exclusively and hear about that meeting and what they had to say. and i want to give you a few details of what is to be expected live here in rome . the next time we see pope benedict the xvi will be 11:05 . and will take a helicopter to the pope's summer residence castel gandolfo and then make one final live appearance and the papal resignation will become official a few hours later when the doors close and swiss guards leave and this day comes to the end of an era for the catholic church . let's go to keir simmons at the square. good morning to you.

>> hey, savannah. the saints looking out of this historic square have not seen a day like this since the middle ages . the pope has been meeting with the cardinals , telling them, i'll be with you in prayer.

>> dawn across rome . since st. peter, this city has seen more than 260 pontiffs, only two popes passed in the last thousand years have left like this. the cardinals , princes of the church , gathered this morning for a warm farewell to pope benedict . some cardinals wanted to speak to him for as long as possible. pope benedict will resign just after sunset. his home for the coming months, this beautiful summer palace , quiet after a frantic few weeks.

>> at 8:00 exactly he will stop being pope. the swiss guards who stand guard outside the palatso will step down and they know longer have to guard the catholic church and he will go into retirement.

>> reporter: now, the task begins of choosing his successors.

>> i think there's some kind of yearning out there for something different, somebody new, somebody fresh, perhaps younger.

>> reporter: an election, the conclave, with rules created through 2,000 years of experience, secret ballots cast in a sistine chapel . in many ways this will be different. this time a retired pope will be watching from the sidelines.

>> we have to see how it plays out. it's completely unchartered waters.

>> reporter: the cardinals must choose a man to lead the faithful forward in these difficult times for the church. they're yet to set a date. it must begin soon. a new pope surely shall be in place by easter week. in a few hours the bells will ring out across rome as the pope is taken in a white helicopter for the 10 minute journey to castel gandolfo , his summer residence and expected to wave before going inside. at 8:00 p.m ., seven hours from now, pope benedict will be pope no longer.

>> keir simmons in st. peter's

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50986738/

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FIFA bans 74 for match-fixing in Italy, South Korea

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:57 a.m. ET Feb. 27, 2013

ZURICH (AP) - FIFA has banned 74 more officials and players from world soccer for helping fix matches, this time in Italy and South Korea.

FIFA says it imposed sanctions on 70 people, including 11 who were banned for life, after a series of cases prosecuted by Italian soccer authorities.

FIFA says the charges involved "match-fixing (direct involvement or omission to report match-fixing), illegal betting or corrupt organization (association to commit illicit acts)."

Prosecutors in Cremona, Bari and Napoli have pieced together a conspiracy they believe was organized from Singapore to bet on rigged Italian soccer games.

Last week, Italian authorities detained suspect Admir Suljic, a Slovenian national, when he landed in Milan on a flight from Singapore. Suljic, alleged to be an associate of Singaporean businessman Tan Seet Eng, faces charges of criminal association and sports fraud.

Tan, also known as Dan Tan, is accused of heading a crime syndicate that has made millions of dollars gambling on fixed matches around the world.

Singapore police said last week that Tan was assisting its investigation into alleged match-fixing.

FIFA said the four new South Korean cases follow worldwide sanctions imposed on 10 people last year and a further 41 last month.

The latest global sanctions were announced two days after FIFA extended bans to 58 people found guilty of match-fixing offenses in China. Of those, FIFA expelled 33 from soccer for life, including 2002 World Cup referee Lu Jun.

FIFA can apply worldwide sanctions after national associations complete their own investigations and impose bans.

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

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Can Red Bulls finally run the table?

PST:?New York?has the makings of a team that will again challenge for the?Eastern Conference crown, but can Thierry Henry deliver that elusive MLS Cup?

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44932236/ns/sports-soccer/

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Heat win 12th straight, outlast Kings in 2OT

MIAMI (AP) ? Heat coach Erik Spoelstra summed up the efforts of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in three words: "Video game numbers," he said.

Both put up monster stat lines.

And the Miami Heat needed them.

James scored 40 points and added a career-high 16 assists, Wade had 39 points, and the Heat pushed their winning streak to 12 games by outlasting the Sacramento Kings 141-129 in double overtime on Tuesday night.

"Some great stat lines tonight," James said. "But I'm happy I was able to do what I did and help our team win."

Great stat lines might be calling it an understatement. Consider:

? A season high in scoring for James, who capped off the best shooting month of his career.

? A season high in scoring for Wade, who tied a career best with 19 field goals.

? A 36-point night for the Kings' Marcus Thornton, the most by any non-starter in the NBA this season.

? The 141 points tied a Heat franchise record, set in 1991.

? Add James' assists to the mix, and he put up the NBA's first night of at least 40 points and 16 assists since April 1994. The man who did it then? None other than Phoenix guard Kevin Johnson, now, ironically enough, the mayor of Sacramento. And for February, James finished 139 for 217 from the floor, that 64.1 percent clip the best of his career for any month.

"It was a great atmosphere," said Thornton, who made 11 of 18 shots, including 8 of 12 from 3-point range. "To be able to take that team to two overtimes just shows the testament of us growing. A team like that ? championship team ? they play great together. Obviously I hate losing but it was a great effort by us."

Ray Allen added 21, Chris Bosh finished with 15 and Chris Andersen had 10 for the Heat, who remained six games clear of second-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.

Miami's 12-game winning streak is the longest in the NBA and matches the second-longest in franchise history.

Tyreke Evans scored 26 points for Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, John Salmons added 15 and Isaiah Thomas 14 for the Kings, who lost their sixth straight.

"They've got a couple of guys that can turn the notch up pretty quickly," Kings coach Keith Smart said. "LeBron and Dwyane played an incredible game. It took a Superman-type game from both of those guys."

Smart said before the game that sometimes "great teams get a little bored with the regular season and they need something to get them going."

The Heat didn't seem to be bored by the second overtime.

After a late non-call that James wanted, he simply seemed mad.

James scored inside to open the second extra session, yelling "and one" at referees as his way of insisting he was fouled as well. But after one sensational sequence, the game was pretty much sealed.

Thornton had a chance to give the Kings the lead after a Heat turnover, but his shot at the rim was blocked by Wade, who came down and set up James for a 3-pointer ? a five-point swing, in essence, and the Heat had a 131-127 lead. James scored again, then added two free throws and found Bosh for a dunk and 10-point lead with 1:29 remaining.

"It's tough but this is a loss I consider a good loss," Cousins said. "Our effort tonight was incredible. We come out and play like that every night, we can beat a lot of teams."

Sacramento fell to 1-17 against Miami since March 2004.

James was perfect in the second overtime: 3-for-3 from the field, 4-for-4 from the line. He had more points (11-5), rebounds (3-0), and assists (3-1) in the final five minutes than the Kings had combined.

"No matter what their record is, they made plays just like us. They gave everything they had and more," James said.

The Heat missed key free throws late in both regulation and the first overtime ? Wade missing a pair with 21 seconds left in the fourth, and James missed one of two with 29.3 seconds left in the opening extra session.

Those two free throws were the only ones Wade was awarded all night.

"I knew we came out a little flat and they came out so free," Wade said. "So I told myself to be a little aggressive and kept us afloat a little bit. And in the overtime, LeBron got going a little bit. We kept going to him and he delivered."

In the first OT, the Kings had a chance for the late lead and potentially the win, but Thomas had a layup blocked by Bosh, and Allen grabbed the rebound for the Heat with 5.7 seconds left.

Miami put the ball in Wade's hands, and he found James near the basket. James' shot missed, and he complained he was fouled by Salmons on the attempt. Referees disagreed with that, but after a lengthy review to determine possession, they awarded Miami the ball with 0.4 seconds remaining. It was much ado for nothing, as Bosh's shot sailed long and the teams went to double overtime.

The game was tied at 92 midway through the fourth before Wade ? with six points and an assist ? led a 13-4 run that looked like it would give Miami breathing room. Miami was up 105-96, and still led 112-104 when James scored with 1:40 remaining.

Sacramento roared back, scoring the final eight points of regulation. Thornton hit a pair of 3-pointers, the second coming with 23 seconds left to get the Kings within 112-110. And after Wade missed a pair of free throws, Cousins grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it back with 8.5 seconds remaining to knot the game at 112-all.

Out of a timeout, the Heat went to Wade, whose step-back 20-footer bounced off the rim as time expired, sending it to overtime.

They were just getting started. And when it was over, the Heat streak survived.

"We're coming together," James said. "We're doing it the right way. We're executing offensively. We're sharing the ball. And we're not getting rattled. We've been in some crazy games. We just stay the course and figure out a way to get the victory."

NOTES: Miami finished February with a 12-1 record, with the one loss to start the month. ... The Heat have allowed 68 third-quarter points in their last two games, both at home. They gave up 67 third-quarter points in their previous three games, all on the road. ... One day after celebrating his 24th birthday, Kings G Jimmer Fredette did not play. ... The Heat played without F Shane Battier, sidelined by right hamstring tightness. He's day-to-day.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/heat-win-12th-straight-outlast-kings-2ot-034225895--spt.html

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Pope recalls 'joy' of papacy, and difficulties

Pope Benedict XVI greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 for the final time before retiring, waving to tens of thousands of people who have gathered to bid him farewell Benedict was driven around the square in an open-sided vehicle, surrounded by bodyguards. At one point he stopped to kiss a baby handed up to him by his secretary. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pope Benedict XVI greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 for the final time before retiring, waving to tens of thousands of people who have gathered to bid him farewell Benedict was driven around the square in an open-sided vehicle, surrounded by bodyguards. At one point he stopped to kiss a baby handed up to him by his secretary. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives for his last general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Tens of thousands of people toting banners saying "Thank you!" jammed St. Peter's Square on Wednesday to bid farewell to Pope Benedict XVI at his final general audience, the appointment he kept each week to teach the world about the Catholic faith. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Benedict XVI greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI greeted the Catholic masses in St. Peter's Square Wednesday for the last time before retiring, making several rounds of the square as crowds cheered wildly and stopping to kiss a half-dozen children brought up to him by his secretary. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

A Vatican Swiss guard stands in front of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI is preparing for his final general audience, the weekly appointment he kept with the faithful and tourists to teach them about the Catholic faith. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

A man holds a cross as he stands in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI is preparing for his final general audience, the weekly appointment he kept with the faithful and tourists to teach them about the Catholic faith. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Benedict XVI basked in an emotional sendoff Wednesday from a massive crowd at his final general audience in St. Peter's Square, recalling moments of "joy and light" during his papacy but also times of difficulty when "it seemed like the Lord was sleeping."

An estimated 150,000 people, many toting banners saying "Grazie!" ("Thank you!"), jammed the piazza to bid Benedict farewell and hear his final speech as pontiff. In this appointment ? which he has kept each week for eight years to teach the world about the Catholic faith ? Benedict gave deep thanks to his flock for respecting his decision to retire.

Benedict clearly enjoyed the crowds, taking a long victory lap around the square in an open-sided car and stopping to kiss and bless half a dozen children handed to him by his secretary. A total of 70 cardinals, some tearful, sat in solemn attendance.

But Benedict made a quick exit, foregoing the typical meet-and-greet session that follows the audience; the Vatican has said there were simply too many people who would have wanted to say goodbye.

Given the historic moment, Benedict also changed course and didn't produce his typical professorial Wednesday catechism lesson. Rather, he made his final public appearance in St. Peter's a personal one, explaining once again why he was becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign and urging the faithful to pray for his successor.

"To love the church means also to have the courage to take difficult, painful decisions, always keeping the good of the church in mind, not oneself," Benedict said to thundering applause.

He noted that a pope has no privacy: "He belongs always and forever to everyone, to the whole church." But the pope promised that in retirement he would not be returning to private life ? instead taking on a new experience of service to the church through prayer.

He recalled that when he was elected pope on April 19, 2005, he questioned if God truly wanted it. "It's a great burden that you've placed on my shoulders," he recalled telling God.

During his eight years as pope, Benedict said, "I have had moments of joy and light, but also moments that haven't been easy ... moments of turbulent seas and rough winds, as has occurred in the history of the church when it seemed like the Lord was sleeping."

But he said he never felt alone, that God always guided him, and he thanked his cardinals and colleagues for their support and for "understanding and respecting this important decision."

Under a bright sun and blue skies, the square was overflowing with pilgrims and curiosity-seekers. Those who couldn't get in picked spots along the main boulevard leading to the square to watch the event on giant TV screens. Some 50,000 tickets were requested for Benedict's final master class. In the end, the Vatican estimated that 150,000 people flocked to the farewell.

"It's difficult ? the emotion is so big," said Jan Marie, a 53-year-old Roman in his first years as a seminarian. "We came to support the pope's decision."

With chants of "Benedetto!" erupting often, the mood was far more buoyant than during the pope's final Sunday blessing. It recalled the jubilant turnouts that often accompanied him at World Youth Days and events involving his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

Benedict has said he decided to retire after realizing that, at 85, he simply didn't have the "strength of mind or body" to carry on.

"I have taken this step with the full understanding of the seriousness and also novelty of the decision, but with a profound serenity in my soul," Benedict told the crowd Wednesday.

Benedict will meet Thursday morning with cardinals for a final time, then fly by helicopter to the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome.

There, at 8 p.m., the doors of the palazzo will close and the Swiss Guards in attendance will go off duty, their service protecting the head of the Catholic Church over ? for now.

Many of the cardinals who will choose Benedict's successor were in St. Peter's Square for his final audience. Those included retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, the object of a grass-roots campaign in the U.S. to persuade him to recuse himself for having covered up for sexually abusive priests. Mahony has said he will be among the 115 cardinals voting on who the next pope should be.

Also in attendance Wednesday were cardinals over 80, who can't participate in the conclave but will participate in meetings next week to discuss the problems facing the church and the qualities needed in a new pope.

"I am joining the entire church in praying that the cardinal electors will have the help of the Holy Spirit," said Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz, 82.

Herranz has been authorized by the pope to brief voting-age cardinals on his investigation into the leaks of papal documents that exposed corruption in the Vatican administration.

Vatican officials say cardinals will begin meeting Monday to decide when to set the date for the conclave.

But the rank-and-file faithful in the crowd Wednesday weren't so concerned with the future; they wanted to savor the final moments with the pope they have known for years.

"I came to thank him for the testimony that he has given the church," said Maria Cristina Chiarini, a 52-year-old homemaker who traveled by train from Lugo in central Italy with some 60 members of her parish. "There's nostalgia, human nostalgia, but also comfort, because as a Christian we have hope. The Lord won't leave us without a guide."

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-27-Vatican-Pope/id-4add0e47c2c846589c9caf0b03d52c9b

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2014 Jeep Cherokee: Is an Old Name Good for a New Car?

?

Last week's unveiling of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee in advance of the New York Auto Show triggered a polarizing range of reactions: While some embraced the crossover's forward-thinking design, others thought it looks like it's sucked on a lemon a tad too long (and some have gone so far as to?re-render it, sans sour-face)... but more curious than the style reactions is the chatter surrounding the Cherokee nameplate.?

?

The original Jeep Cherokee (or SJ-series) was a hulking, full-sized proto SUV produced by AMC from 1974 to 1983, while?the smaller, boxy, unibodied follow-up (dubbed the XJ) became a favorite of both urbanites and hardcore offroaders. Both of those rather different but distinctive Cherokees were beloved for a variety of reasons, which begs the question as to whether Jeep should be delving into history when naming their new crossover, or coming up with a new name for their squinty-eyed sport 'ute, especially when it promises notable breakthroughs like 45 percent better fuel economy than the Liberty model it replaces.

?

This isn't the first time the Chrysler Group has dusted off an old name for a new car (consider the Dodge Dart, for starters), but should it be the last? The true gauge of that crucial marketing choice will be determined by the Cherokee's sales response when finished cars ship from Chrysler's assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio to showrooms in the third quarter of 2013.?

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/2014-jeep-cherokee-old-name-new-car?src=rss

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SES New York Keynote Speaker Says Internet is TV's Best Friend ...

The Internet didn?t kill TV! According to Mike Proulx, the Internet has become TV?s best friend. Proulx will be the opening keynote speaker at SES New York 2013. The leading event for experienced marketing and advertising professionals will take place March 25-28, 2013, at the New York Marriott Marquis.

Proulx is a Senior Vice President and the Director of Social Media at Hill Holliday, a renowned advertising agency based in Boston, where he leads a team with a focus on cross-channel integration, emerging and social media. He has spent the last 17 years working at various interactive, high-tech, and new media companies on the agency-side, client-side, and as an entrepreneur. He has spoken at dozens of events and has been widely featured in the press including The New York Times, Fast Company, TV Guide, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Mashable, BuzzFeed, and NPR.

Proulx conceived, produced, directed, and co-host the TVnext summit, which took place in early 2011 and 2012. He is the co-author of Social TV, a best-selling book from Wiley publishing that launched in February of 2012. He is also the host of the social TV web series, ?The Pulse on Lost Remote?. He holds a Master?s degree in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University and in 2012 was named the Ad Club?s Media All Star.

His opening keynote is titled, ?Social TV: How Marketers Can Reach and Engage Audiences by Connecting Television to the Web, Social Media, and Mobile.?

Search Engine Watch (SEW) asked Mike Proulx (MP) five questions about his upcoming keynote. Here are his answers:

SEW: How does the convergence of television with the web, social media, and mobile change our behaviors and shake up our long standing beliefs about TV?

MP: There are those who believe that television is a traditional medium with an impending death. The web, social media, and mobile have evolved TV into a multi-screen experience that transcends devices. Not only are we watching more television than ever before, we?re interacting with programming on the ?second screen? in ways that enrich storylines and bring us together to virtually co-view. The modern era of television is a new media that?s more social, more connected, and more portable?and because of this TV is more alive than it?s ever been.

SEW: How has social media created a new and powerful "backchannel" and why does this fuel the renaissance of live broadcasts?

MP: There are a ton of posts happening in social media about any given TV show as it airs. Since Twitter is open and public, it acts as television?s backchannel filled with real-time commentary and conversation ? And it?s not just about TV series but also TV commercials giving producers and marketers instant feedback about their content. Live television events are seeing some of the highest ratings in years and social media brings a level of community and connection to TV watching the likes of which the medium has never before experienced.

SEW: Can you give us some examples of how mobile devices allow us to watch and interact with television whenever and wherever we want?

MP: Tablets, smartphones, and laptops enable television?s portability but it?s apps like HBO Go, ABC Player, Xfinity Remote, and CNN that deliver ?TV? content via those devices. And in the 4G world of mobile, we can watch TV in places once inconceivable. My favorite spot? Laying out on the roof deck on a warm summer night with my iPad in hand streaming HBO?s The Newsroom.

SEW: Why would ?connected TVs? blend web and television content into a unified big screen experience that will bring us back into our living rooms?

MP: Apple TV, Roku, Boxee TV, Google TV, Samsung Smart TVs, etc. stream online video (that was once relegated to our computer screens) onto the ?big screen? of our living rooms. HD YouTube clips suddenly come to life in ways that are far more impactful and dynamic than tiny smartphone screens further blurring the lines of what?s ?TV.? While the notion of TV everywhere lets us watch TV at will regardless of our physical location, the increasingly seamless ability to channel streaming video through the TV set makes the living room that much more compelling.

SEW: With the television landscape changing, why should brands approach the medium once labeled ?traditional? as new media?

MP: TV has become mashed up with the Web, social media, and mobile. Television networks, providers, brands, and agencies must continue to unshackle themselves from dated business and advertising models and rediscover television as a new medium. This means planning television and digital together to tell stories across devices and engage viewers with TV experiences not just TV shows. The speed, scale, and degree of change that has and is happening create enormous opportunity for those brands who have the courage to innovate.

SES New York 2013 offers a variety of conference passes and on-site training. If you register by Thursday, March 7, 2013, you can save up to $600 on Platinum or All Access passes.

For more information, click on Rates and Registration Details. Group discounts for 4 or more pass holders from the same company are also available by contacting [email?protected] and are the best value for the lowest price possible.

I should disclose that SES New York is a client of my agency. But, trust me, TV is not dead yet.

---

Become an Expert Digital Marketer at SES New York
March 25-28, 2013: With dozens of sessions on Search, Social, Local and Mobile, you'll leave SES with everything and everyone you need to know. Hurry, early bird rates expire February 21. Register today!

Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2250850/SES-New-York-Keynote-Speaker-Says-Internet-is-TVs-Best-Friend

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Clinton: Nigerian poverty fuels religious violence

ABEOKUTA, Nigeria (AP) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that Nigeria must do more to alleviate the extreme poverty across the nation's predominantly Muslim north in order to halt the wave of bombings, shootings and kidnappings by Islamic extremists there.

Clinton's comment comes as Islamic terror groups have claimed the kidnappings of foreigners in recent days from the region and Nigeria's weak central government appears unable to contain the spreading violence. He said that poverty remains the main driver for the attacks and needs to be addressed by strong local and federal government programs.

Extremists from a radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram killed at least 792 people last year in Nigeria, according to an Associated Press count. Fighters who said they belong to Boko Haram claimed responsibility Monday for the kidnapping of seven French tourists in northern Cameroon. Ansaru, which analysts believe is a splinter group from Boko Haram, has claimed the kidnappings of seven foreigners ? a British citizen, a Greek, an Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino ? all employees of a Lebanese construction company named Setraco.

"You have to somehow bring economic opportunity to the people who don't have it," Clinton said Tuesday. "You have all these political problems ? and now violence problems ? that appear to be rooted in religious differences and the all the rhetoric of the Boko Harams and others, but the truth is the poverty rate in the north is three times of what it is in Lagos," Nigeria's largest city.

Clinton said that oil-rich Nigeria, which earns billions of dollars from its oil industry and is a major supplier to the U.S., must not take a "divide the pie" approach toward attacking poverty. That appeared to be a subtle reference to the endemic corruption that envelopes government and private industry in the country.

"It's a losing strategy," the former president said. "You have to figure out a way to have a strategy that will have share prosperity."

Poverty is endemic in Nigeria, and corruption has siphoned away billions in oil earnings since the country began exporting crude more than 50 years ago. Government statistics show that in Nigeria's northwest and northeast, regions besieged by Islamic insurgents, about 75 percent of the people live in poverty.

Analysts say that poverty, despite decades of military rule by leaders from the north, coupled with a lack of formal education has driven the region's exploding youth population toward extremism. Those attacks also have strained relations between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria.

Clinton spoke Tuesday in Abeokuta as part of an awards ceremony put on by ThisDay newspaper and its flamboyant publisher Nduka Obaigbena, who has invited the former president several times to Nigeria, along with other celebrities. The event, put on by a newspaper publisher sometimes accused by his staff of not paying them from months at a time, was also attended by former Nigeria military ruler and President Olusegun Obasanjo.

___

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-nigerian-poverty-fuels-religious-190845324.html

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Mophie's New iPhone 5 JuicePack Has a Very Slightly Larger Battery

Mophie's new JuicePack Air has an even more powerful battery than the Helium, its last charging case for the iPhone 5. This time around, you're getting a 1700 mAh battery, as opposed to a 1500. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/yJHzRdzN2no/mophies-new-iphone-5-juicepack-has-a-very-slightly-larger-battery

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Ex-Canada ambassador slighted by Affleck's "Argo"

TORONTO The former Canadian ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis says it will reflect poorly on Ben Affleck if he doesn't say a few words about Canada's role should the director's film "Argo" win the Oscar for best picture Sunday.

But Ken Taylor ? who said he feels slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics in the rescue of six U.S. Embassy staff members caught in the crisis ? is not expecting it.

"I would hope he would. If he doesn't then it's a further reflection," Taylor told The Associated Press. But the 78-year-old Taylor added that given what's happened in the last few months, "I'm not necessarily anticipating anything."

Taylor kept the Americans hidden at his residence and the home of his deputy, John Sheardown, in Tehran and facilitated their escape by arranging plane tickets and persuading the Ottawa government to issue fake passports. He also agreed to go along with the CIA's film production cover story to get the Americans out of Iran.

Taylor became a hero in Canada and the United States afterward. He felt the role that he and other Canadians played in helping the Americans to freedom was minimized in the film.

"In general it makes it seem like the Canadians were just along for the ride. The Canadians were brave. Period," Taylor said.

On the other hand, actress Sheila Vand, who plays an Iranian housekeeper in the film, told CBS Radio News that her role in "Argo" helps chip away at stereotypes for Middle Eastern characters.

Affleck's thriller is widely expected to win the best-picture trophy. Two other high-profile best-picture nominees this year, Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" and Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," have also been criticized for their portrayal of some factual issues.

Affleck said in a statement Friday night that he thought his issue with Taylor had been resolved.

"I admire Ken very much for his role in rescuing the six houseguests. I consider him a hero. In light of my many conversations as well as a change to an end card that Ken requested I am surprised that Ken continues to take issue with the film," Affleck said in the statement. "I spoke to him recently when he asked me to narrate a documentary he is prominently featured in and yet he didn't mention any lingering concerns. I agreed to do it and I look forward to seeing Ken at the recording."

Taylor told the AP on Saturday that he would take the "high road" upon hearing what Affleck said in the statement. He said it was news to him that Affleck had agreed to narrate the documentary and looked forward to working on it with him.

He added that he had sent Affleck an email on Saturday, saying he was pleased to hear that "Argo" has received international acclaim even though the debate still continues about the role Canada played. In the email, he said the dispute doesn't reflect on Affleck's skills as a director and wished him luck on Sunday.

"I'm not conceding anything," Taylor told the AP. "What I said is still valid. It's time to move on. I've registered it now for six months and President Jimmy Carter's remarks back it. There's nothing more a Canadian can say after the president says it."

Carter appeared on CNN on Thursday night and said "90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian," but the film "gives almost full credit to the American CIA."

Carter also called "Argo" a complete distortion of what happened when he accepted an honorary degree from Queen's University in Canada in November.

"I saw the movie Argo recently and I was taken aback by its distortion of what happened because almost everything that was heroic, or courageous or innovative was done by Canada and not the United States," Carter said.

Taylor said there would be no movie without the Canadians.

"We took the six in without being asked so it starts there," Taylor said. "And the fact that we got them out with some help from the CIA then that's where the story loses itself. I think Jimmy Carter has it about right, it was 90 percent Canada, 10 percent the CIA."

He said CIA agent Tony Mendez, played by Affleck in the film, was only in Iran for a day and a half.

The movie also makes no mention of Sheardown, the First Secretary at the embassy. Taylor said it was Sheardown who took the first call from the American diplomats who had evaded capture when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in November 1979, and agreed right away to take the Americans in. Sheardown died on Dec. 30, and his wife, Zena, called the movie disappointing.

"It was frustrating," Zena Sheardown said about "Argo" in an interview with The Associated Press after her husband's death. "It would have been nice if the story was told correctly because basically, if the Canadians weren't there to help, who knows what would have happened to those Americans."

Friends of Taylor were outraged last September when "Argo" debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. The original postscript of the movie said that Taylor received 112 citations and awards for his work in freeing the hostages and suggested Taylor didn't deserve them because the movie ends with the CIA deciding to let Canada have the credit for helping the Americans escape.

Taylor called the postscript lines "disgraceful and insulting" and said it would have caused outrage in Canada if the lines were not changed. Affleck flew Taylor to Los Angeles after the Toronto debut and allowed him to insert a postscript that gave Canada some credit.

Taylor called it a good movie and said he's not rooting against it, but said it is far from accurate.

"He's a good director. It's got momentum. There's nothing much right from Day 1 I could do about the movie. I changed a line at the end because the caption at the end was disgraceful. It's like Tiananmen Square, you are sitting in front of a big tank," he said.

Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsEntertainment/~3/R5O0XZeIYMo/

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Among pilgrims on pope's final Sunday, a sense of malaise

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Many of the Catholics packed into St. Peter's Square On Sunday expressed a sense of malaise about seeing Pope Benedict give his last weekly blessing before resigning from a position traditionally seen as a commitment until death.

"This is an ill wind blowing," said midwife Marina Tacconi as a chilly gust blew across the square.

"It feels like something ugly could happen. I'm 58 years old. I have seen popes come and go, but never one resign. I don't see it as a good thing."

While many pilgrims held signs thanking the 85-year-old pontiff, who elicited a huge cheer when he appeared at his window over the square for the last time ever, one banner in the crowd read "Pope, we don't understand you".

"I feel very emotional and upset, full of gratitude and love and prayer," said Italian pilgrim Andreina Scuri.

In his final Sunday blessing address before leaving on Thursday for a life of prayer and meditation, Benedict said he was "not abandoning the Church". [ID:nL6N0BO2AP] But many there to see him said they were confused and upset by his decision.

"The news of his resignation was a blow for everyone. We lack a uniting figure," said Mirko Ninni, an unemployed 22-year-old who said the abdication added to the sense of unease in Italy which is in deep recession and faces political uncertainty in a general election.

Dressed in rough sack cloth and with blistered bare feet, pilgrim Massimo Coppo drew a crowd as he railed against the Vatican hierarchy, saying it was alienated from the people.

"There is too much money in the Church. We must offer them our hearts, not our money," shouted the grey-bearded Coppo to applause and shouts of "Make him Pope, immediately!".

Disunity in the Church is one of many challenges faced by an institution plagued by a series of sexual abuse scandals and allegations of corruption.

"The people are scared and panicked like sheep in the night when they think there is a wolf among them," Coppo preached to the gathered crowd, who filmed him on mobile phones.

ADVERSITY

"The Church is going through a difficult moment," said Sara Laurenzano, 20, a Rome student who said Benedict had suffered in comparison to his widely beloved predecessor John Paul II.

The contrast with the adoring crowds who massed in the same square almost eight years ago as John Paul II lay dying was stark. The more charismatic pope had won widespread respect for opposing Soviet communism and for enduring a lengthy illness in the public eye.

"(Benedict) wasn't a uniting figure," said Laurenzano. "The new pope will need to lead us out of this adversity, we need someone to unite us."

The next pontiff, who is expected to take over before the Easter weekend at the end of March, will take up a battle against increasing secularization, cultural change and ever-falling church attendance in many Western countries.

Sister Daniella, 58, said she and her fellow nuns at the order of the Sacred Sacrament based beside the Vatican had been initially stunned at the pope's decision to become the first pontiff in centuries to resign.

"It was a lightning bolt. But in the end we saw that the decision was done from a wish to serve the Church, " Sister Daniella said, wearing glasses and a light grey habit.

Other pilgrims also sought to take something positive from Benedict's decision.

"It's bittersweet," said Sarah Ennis, 21, a student from Minnesota who studies in Rome.

"Bitter because we love our Pope Benedict and hate to see him go, but sweet because he is going for a good reason and we are excited to see the next pope."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/among-pilgrims-popes-final-sunday-sense-malaise-153931781.html

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Race linked to childhood food allergies, not environmental allergies

Public release date: 23-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Olejarz
David.Olejarz@hfhs.org
313-874-4094
Henry Ford Health System

DETROIT Research conducted at Henry Ford Hospital shows that race and possibly genetics play a role in children's sensitivity to developing allergies. Researchers found:

• African-American children were sensitized to at least one food allergen three times more often than Caucasian children.
• African-American children with one allergic parent were sensitized to an environmental allergen twice as often as African-American children without an allergic parent.

The study will be presented Saturday at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting,

"Our findings suggest that African Americans may have a gene making them more susceptible to food allergen sensitization or the sensitization is just more prevalent in African American children than white children at age 2," says Haejim Kim, M.D., a Henry Ford allergist and the study's lead author. "More research is needed to further look at the development of allergy."

Sensitization means a person's immune system produces a specific antibody to an allergen. It does not mean the person will experience allergy symptoms.

According to an AAAI study from 2009-2010, an estimated 8 percent of children have a food allergy, and 30 percent of children have multiple food allergies. Peanut is the most prevalent allergen, followed by milk and shellfish. 1The Henry Ford study consisted of a longitudinal birth cohort of 543 children who were interviewed with their parents and examined at a clinical visit at age 2. Data included parental self-report of allergies and self-reported race (African American or white/non-Hispanic). The children were skin-tested for three food allergens egg whites, peanuts and milk and seven environmental allergens.

Key findings:

• 20.1 percent of African-American children were sensitized to an food allergen compared to 6.4 percent in Caucasian children.
• 13.9 percent of African-American children were sensitized to an environmental allergen compared to 11 percent of Caucasian children.
• African-American children with an allergic parent were sensitized to an environmental allergen 2.45 times more often than African-American children without an allergic parent.

###

The study was funded by Henry Ford Hospital and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Public release date: 23-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Olejarz
David.Olejarz@hfhs.org
313-874-4094
Henry Ford Health System

DETROIT Research conducted at Henry Ford Hospital shows that race and possibly genetics play a role in children's sensitivity to developing allergies. Researchers found:

• African-American children were sensitized to at least one food allergen three times more often than Caucasian children.
• African-American children with one allergic parent were sensitized to an environmental allergen twice as often as African-American children without an allergic parent.

The study will be presented Saturday at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting,

"Our findings suggest that African Americans may have a gene making them more susceptible to food allergen sensitization or the sensitization is just more prevalent in African American children than white children at age 2," says Haejim Kim, M.D., a Henry Ford allergist and the study's lead author. "More research is needed to further look at the development of allergy."

Sensitization means a person's immune system produces a specific antibody to an allergen. It does not mean the person will experience allergy symptoms.

According to an AAAI study from 2009-2010, an estimated 8 percent of children have a food allergy, and 30 percent of children have multiple food allergies. Peanut is the most prevalent allergen, followed by milk and shellfish. 1The Henry Ford study consisted of a longitudinal birth cohort of 543 children who were interviewed with their parents and examined at a clinical visit at age 2. Data included parental self-report of allergies and self-reported race (African American or white/non-Hispanic). The children were skin-tested for three food allergens egg whites, peanuts and milk and seven environmental allergens.

Key findings:

• 20.1 percent of African-American children were sensitized to an food allergen compared to 6.4 percent in Caucasian children.
• 13.9 percent of African-American children were sensitized to an environmental allergen compared to 11 percent of Caucasian children.
• African-American children with an allergic parent were sensitized to an environmental allergen 2.45 times more often than African-American children without an allergic parent.

###

The study was funded by Henry Ford Hospital and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/hfhs-rlt022013.php

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5 big U.S. banks have cut mortgage debt by $19 billion

WASHINGTON -- Five of the biggest U.S. banks have cut struggling homeowners' mortgage balances by $19 billion, part of a total $45.8 billion in relief provided under a landmark settlement over foreclosure abuses.

More than 550,000 borrowers received some form of mortgage relief between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2012, according to a report issued Thursday by Joseph Smith, the monitor of the settlement.

That translates to about $82,668 per homeowner, according to the report, which is based on the banks' own accounts of their progress. Smith said he must confirm the banks' data before they can get credit under the settlement.

The deal was struck a year ago by the federal government and 49 states with the five largest U.S. mortgage servicers: Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial Inc. Under the settlement, the five agreed to reduce balances on mortgages where the borrower owes more than the home is worth and to refinance some loans. The banks also are required to make foreclosure their last resort, and they can't foreclose on a homeowner who is being considered for a loan modification.

The settlement closed a painful chapter of the financial crisis when home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. Many companies had processed foreclosures without verifying documents.

The agreement reduces mortgage debt for only a fraction of those whose mortgages are underwater. About 11 million U.S. households are underwater, and the settlement is expected to help about a million of them.

Smith's report says $19.5 billion of the $45.8 billion in relief was in the form of short sales, in which lenders agree to accept less than what the seller owes on the mortgage. Lenders are increasingly favoring short sales rather than waiting for troubled loans to go through the foreclosure process.

Of the roughly $19 billion in reduced mortgage principal, according to the report, Bank of America had provided $13.5 billion; JPMorgan Chase, $1.8 billion; Citigroup, $1.9 billion; Wells Fargo, $1.4 billion; and Ally, $238 million.

Ally, the former financial arm of General Motors Co., now has fulfilled its obligation for the relief it is required to provide under the settlement, Smith said.

The banks provided another $2.2 billion in relief by refinancing 56,400 home loans with an average principal balance of $211,834. As a result, borrowers will save an average of about $417 in interest payments each month, the report says.

The banks also had $3.5 billion worth of loans under trial modifications as of Dec. 31. That could lead to permanent reduction in loan balances of $138,802 if the trials are completed.

"I believe we have made progress, particularly as it relates to (mortgage) relief, but I know from my regular conversations with advocates across the nation that the banks and I have much more work to do on behalf of borrowers," Smith said in a statement.

In separate settlements announced last month, 13 banks agreed to pay a combined $9.3 billion to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The settlements ended a review of loan files required under a 2011 action by federal agencies.

They could compensate borrowers whose homes were seized because of abuses such as "robo-signing," when banks automatically signed off on foreclosures without properly reviewing documents. The settlements also will help eliminate huge potential liabilities for the banks: Aurora, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial Services, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/02/5_big_us_banks_have_cut_mortga.html

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China says U.S. hacking accusations lack technical proof

BEIJING | Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:37am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - Accusations by a U.S. computer security company that a secretive Chinese military unit is likely behind a series of hacking attacks are scientifically flawed and hence unreliable, China's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

The statement came after the White House said overnight that the Obama administration has repeatedly taken up its concerns about cyber-theft at the highest levels of the Chinese government, including with Chinese military officials.

The security company, Mandiant, identified the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind the hacking. Mandiant said it believed the unit had carried out "sustained" attacks on a wide range of industries.

The Chinese Defence Ministry, which has already denied the charges, went further in a new statement, slamming Mandiant for relying on spurious data.

"The report, in only relying on linking IP address to reach a conclusion the hacking attacks originated from China, lacks technical proof," the ministry said in a statement on its website (www.mod.gov.cn).

"Everyone knows that the use of usurped IP addresses to carry out hacking attacks happens on an almost daily basis," it added.

"Second, there is still no internationally clear, unified definition of what consists of a 'hacking attack'. There is no legal evidence behind the report subjectively inducing that the everyday gathering of online (information) is online spying."

As hacking is a cross-border, anonymous and deceptive phenomenon, by its very nature it is hard to work out exactly where hacks originated, the statement said.

Unit 61398 is located in Shanghai's Pudong district, China's financial and banking hub, and is staffed by perhaps thousands of people proficient in English as well as computer programming and network operations, Mandiant said in its report.

The unit had stolen "hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations across a diverse set of industries beginning as early as 2006", it said.

Most of the victims were located in the United States, with smaller numbers in Canada and Britain. The information stolen ranged from details on mergers and acquisitions to the emails of senior employees, the company said.

But the Chinese Defense Ministry said China's own figures show that a "considerable" number of hacking attacks it is subjected to come from the United States.

"But we don't use this as a reason to criticize the United States," the ministry said.

China has worked with the international community to fight hacking and was determined to continue doing so, it added.

"Public criticism in the media from one side not only does not help matters but will also damage the atmosphere for cooperation."

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/technologyNews/~3/C0OekmDK_1M/us-china-hacking-idUSBRE91I06120130220

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No. 1 Indiana beats No. 4 Michigan State 72-68

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) ? Indiana has gone from good to great, and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo thinks he knows how the Hoosiers have done it.

Victor Oladipo.

"He makes them better," Izzo said.

Oladipo shook off a sprained left ankle with a spectacular performance to lift top-ranked Indiana to a 72-68 win over the fourth-ranked Spartans on Tuesday night.

"I'm not going to lie, it hurt a little," Oladipo said. "But I wanted to win."

It looked like a victory meant more to him than any other player in the highly anticipated game that matched the pregame hype.

"Oladipo is just a refuse-to-lose guy," Izzo said. "Winning time, he made the plays."

Oladipo's go-ahead putback, dunk and free throws in the final minute gave him 19 points to go with nine rebounds, five steals and a block. Not bad for a guy who didn't play after halftime of his previous game, just three days earlier, because of the injury.

Hoosiers coach Tom Crean insisted that the junior shooting guard "wasn't even close" to 100 percent healthy.

"There's no doubt his foot hurt," Crean said. "That mind was right, and that was the biggest thing."

Indiana (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) broke a first-place tie in the conference ? with four games left in the regular season ? and moved a step closer toward earning top seeding next month in the NCAA tournament.

"It was a huge win for us," Oladipo said. "We've come a long way."

The Hoosiers had lost 17 straight ? since 1991 ? on the road against the Spartans.

"Most of those guys weren't alive," Crean said of his players. "It didn't affect them."

Michigan State (22-5, 11-3) blew chances at the line, but Izzo thought a lot of little and big plays earlier in the game were as much to blame for the missed opportunity to win.

"Games aren't lost with free throws at the end," he said.

This one was won by Oladipo

Trailing by three with 3.7 seconds left, Gary Harris was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He missed the first one ? setting off sighs in the sold-out arena ? and after making the second, he deliberately missed the third.

Indiana got the rebound ? Oladipo grabbed it, of course ? and he hit two free throws to seal the win.

"We were right there," Harris said somberly. "And, we could've won."

Keith Appling had missed the front end of a one-and-one with a little more than a minute left.

"I'd say I was more upset than surprised," he said.

Cody Zeller had 17 points ? nearly doubling what he had in the previous matchup against Michigan State ? while Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford scored 12 each for the Hoosiers.

Oladipo and Zeller went over the 1,000-point mark of their careers in the game, joining Hulls and Watford in the club, to give the storied program four players with that many points on the same team for the first time.

"They've got a lot of weapons," Izzo said. "They've got a lot of experience."

Harris, Indiana's Mr. Basketball last year, missed a layup in a crowded lane with 16 seconds left and finished with 19 points. Adreian Payne scored 17 and the rest of the Spartans struggled offensively.

Appling, Michigan State's leading scorer, was held to six points on 1-of-8 shooting.

"My quarterback struggled a little bit," Izzo said.

Branden Dawson had eight points and Derrick Nix scored eight and some of his contributions offensively late in the game looked like they were going to help the school win its second game in the regular season against a No. 1 team.

Nix made a go-ahead shot ? after grabbing rebounds off two of his misses ? to put Michigan State ahead 64-63 lead with 3:08 left and scored again in the post on its next possession.

Harris made one of two free throws with 1:38 remaining to give the Spartans a game-high, four-point lead.

Watford responded with a three-point play on the ensuing possession to pull Indiana within a point and Oladipo did the rest.

Michigan State had won five straight and 11 of 12 with its only loss during the stretch at Indiana. In last month's five-point loss at Indiana, Oladipo had 21 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three blocks.

The rematch marked the first time two top-five teams have met at the Breslin Center.

It was the third matchup of top-four teams in college basketball this season ? the second for Indiana, which beat then top-ranked Michigan ? and was just the fourth with a pair of Big Ten teams since 1997.

"Nothing rattles us too much," Zeller said.

___

Follow Larry Lage on Twitter: http://twitter.com/larrylage

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-1-indiana-beats-no-4-michigan-state-023423592--spt.html

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Syria 'Scud-type' missile said to kill 20 in Aleppo

AMMAN (Reuters) - A Syrian missile killed at least 20 people in a rebel-held district of Aleppo on Tuesday, opposition activists said, as the army turns to longer-range weapons after losing bases in the country's second-largest city.

The use of what opposition activists said was a large missile of the same type as Russian-made Scuds against an Aleppo residential district came after rebels overran army bases over the past two months from which troops had fired artillery.

As the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, now a civil war, nears its two-year mark, rebels also landed three mortar bombs in the rarely-used presidential palace compound in the capital Damascus, opposition activists said on Tuesday.

The United Nations estimates 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict between largely Sunni Muslim rebels and Assad's supporters among his minority Alawite sect. An international diplomatic deadlock has prevented intervention, as the war worsens sectarian tensions throughout the Middle East.

A Russian official said on Tuesday that Moscow, which is a long-time ally of Damascus, would not immediately back U.N. investigators' calls for some Syrian leaders to face the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Moscow has blocked three U.N. Security Council resolutions that would have increased pressure on Assad.

Casualties are not only being caused directly by fighting, but also by disruption to infrastructure and Syria's economy.

An estimated 2,500 people in a rebel-held area of northeastern Deir al-Zor province have been infected with typhoid, which causes diarrhea and can be fatal, due to drinking contaminated water from the Euphrates River, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

"There is not enough fuel or electricity to run the pumps so people drink water from the Euphrates which is contaminated, probably with sewage," the WHO representative in Syria, Elisabeth Hoff, told Reuters by telephone.

The WHO had no confirmed reports of deaths so far.

BURIED UNDER RUBBLE

In northern Aleppo, opposition activists said 25 people were missing under rubble of three buildings hit by a several-meter-long missile. They said remains of the weapon showed it to be a Scud-type missile of the type government forces increasingly use in Aleppo and in Deir a-Zor.

NATO said in December Assad's forces fired Scud-type missiles. It did not specify where they landed but said their deployment was an act of desperation.

Bodies were being gradually dug up, Mohammad Nour, an activist, said by phone from Aleppo.

"Some, including children, have died in hospitals," he said.

Video footage showed dozens of people scouring for victims and inspecting damage. A body was pulled from under collapsed concrete. At a nearby hospital, a baby said to have been dug out from wreckage was shown dying in the hands of doctors.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Opposition activists also reported fighting near the town of Nabak on the Damascus-Homs highway, another route vital for supplying forces in the capital loyal to Assad, whose family has ruled Syria since the 1960s.

Rebels moved anti-aircraft guns into the eastern Damascus district of Jobar, adjacent to the city centre, as they seek to secure recent gains, an activist said.

"The rebels moved truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns to Jobar and are now firing at warplanes rocketing the district," said Damascus activist Moaz al-Shami.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a news conference a U.N. war crimes report, which accuses military leaders and rebels of terrorizing civilians, was "not the path we should follow ... at this stage it would be untimely and unconstructive."

Syria is not party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC and the only way the court can investigate the situation is if it receives a referral from the Security Council, where Moscow is a permanent member.

(Writing by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Jason Webb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-scud-type-missile-said-kill-20-aleppo-045528584.html

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Chinese military hacked U.S. companies, firm says

BEIJING/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A secretive Chinese military unit is believed to be behind a series of hacking attacks, a U.S. computer security company said, prompting a strong denial by China and accusations that it was in fact the victim of U.S. hacking.

The company, Mandiant, identified the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind the hacking. Mandiant said it believed the unit had carried out "sustained" attacks on a wide range of industries.

"The nature of 'Unit 61398's' work is considered by China to be a state secret; however, we believe it engages in harmful 'Computer Network Operations'," Mandiant said in a report released in the United States on Monday.

"It is time to acknowledge the threat is originating in China, and we wanted to do our part to arm and prepare security professionals to combat that threat effectively," it said.

China's Defense Ministry issued a flat denial of the accusations and called them "unprofessional". It said hacking attacks are a global problem and that China is one of world's biggest victims of cyber assaults.

"The Chinese army has never supported any hacking activity," the Defense Ministry said in a brief faxed statement to Reuters. "Statements about the Chinese army engaging in cyber attacks are unprofessional and not in line with facts."

Unit 61398 is located in Shanghai's Pudong district, China's financial and banking hub, and is staffed by perhaps thousands of people proficient in English as well as computer programming and network operations, Mandiant said in its report.

The unit had stolen "hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations across a diverse set of industries beginning as early as 2006", it said.

Most of the victims were located in the United States, with smaller numbers in Canada and Britain. The information stolen ranged from details on mergers and acquisitions to the emails of senior employees, the company said.

The 12-storey building, which houses the unit, sits in an unassuming residential area and is surrounded by a wall adorned with military propaganda photos and slogans; outside the gate a sign warns members of the public they are in a restricted military area and should not take pictures.

There were no obvious signs of extra security on Tuesday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the government firmly opposed hacking, adding that it doubted the evidence provided in the U.S. security group's report.

"Hacking attacks are transnational and anonymous. Determining their origins are extremely difficult. We don't know how the evidence in this so-called report can be tenable," spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

"Arbitrary criticism based on rudimentary data is irresponsible, unprofessional and not helpful in resolving the issue."

Hong cited a Chinese study which pointed to the United States as being behind hacking in China.

"Of the above mentioned Internet hacking attacks, attacks originating from the United States rank first."

"ECONOMIC CYBER ESPIONAGE"

Some experts said they doubted Chinese government denials.

"The PLA plays a key role in China's multi-faceted security strategy, so it makes sense that its resources would be used to facilitate economic cyber espionage that helps the Chinese economy," said Dmitri Alperovitch, chief technology officer and co-founder of CrowdStrike, one of Mandiant's competitors.

Though privately held and little known to the general public, Mandiant is one of a handful of U.S. cyber-security companies that specialize in attempting to detect, prevent and trace the most advanced hacking attacks, instead of the garden-variety viruses and criminal intrusions that befoul corporate networks on a daily basis.

But Mandiant does not promote its analysis in public and only rarely issues topical papers about changes in techniques or behaviors.

It has never before given the apparent proper names of suspected hackers or directly tied them to a military branch of the Chinese government, giving the new report special resonance.

The company published details of the attack programs and dummy websites used to infiltrate U.S. companies, typically via deceptive emails.

U.S. officials have complained in the past to China about sanctioned trade-secret theft, but have had a limited public record to point to.

Mandiant said it knew the PLA would shift tactics and programs in response to its report but concluded that the disclosure was worth it because of the scale of the harm and the ability of China to issue denials in the past and duck accountability.

The company traced Unit 61398's presence on the Internet - including registration data for a question-and-answer session with a Chinese professor and numeric Internet addresses within a block assigned to the PLA unit - and concluded that it was a major contributor to operations against the U.S. companies.

Members of Congress and intelligence authorities in the United States have publicized the same general conclusions: that economic espionage is an official mission of the PLA and other elements of the Chinese government, and that hacking is a primary method.

In November 2011, the U.S. National Counterintelligence Executive publicly decried China in particular as the biggest known thief of U.S. trade secrets.

The Mandiant report comes a week after U.S. President Barack Obama issued a long-awaited executive order aimed at getting the private owners of power plants and other critical infrastructure to share data on attacks with officials and to begin to follow consensus best practices on security.

Both U.S. Democrats and Republicans have said more powerful legislation is needed, citing Chinese penetration not just of the largest companies but of operations essential to a functioning country, including those comprising the electric grid.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina and Koh Gui Qing in BEIJING, Carlos Barria in SHANGHAI and Jim Finkle in BOSTON; Editing by Robert Birsel and Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/security-group-suspects-chinese-military-behind-hacking-attacks-055727982.html

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Joe Brack Gives a Pixilated Performance in ?My Princess Bride? at ...

Joe Brack will conclude the three-week run of his one-man show, ?My Princess Bride,? based on William Goldman?s 1973 fantasy novel and the 1987 film of the book, on Feb. 14-17 at Common Ground Theatre

On Jan. 31st, former North Carolina resident Joe Brack made a second triumphant return to Common Ground Theatre in Durham, NC ? the first was his hilarious performance as David/Crumpet in The SantaLand Diaries in December 2006 ? performing in a nifty new show entitled My Princess Bride, which he conceived and performs solo, much to the audience?s delight. Instead of sitting in the seat of the scornful and passing judgment on the employees and visitors to Macy?s SantaLand, as he did in The SantaLand Diaries, Brack assumes the angst-ridden personality of his pimply and painfully shy adolescent self ? a real dweeb ? and reminisces about how he escaped the cruel taunts of his hipper peers by withdrawing to his bedroom and immersing himself in his favorite fantasy adventure novels, especially The Princess Bride (1973) and its celebrated 1987 film adaptation.

Soon, Brack is joyously reenacting his favorite book, scene by scene, in a pixilated performance during which he smoothly segues from the intrepid farmboy Westley and his boyhood crush, the plucky farmgirl Buttercup, as they come of age in a fictional country named Florin, ruled by the insufferable Prince Humperdinck, who soon falls in lust with Buttercup and will stop at nothing to make her his bride. Brack also strikes all the right poses and adopts all the right accents to play the odious Humperdinck, the Dread Pirate Roberts who shanghaies Westley, a sawed-off evil Sicilian crime boss named Vizzini, a genial Turkish giant named Fezzik, a Spanish swordsman with a hair-trigger temper named Inigo Montoya, and a mysterious Man in Black who gives chase when Vizzini, Fezzik, and Montoya kidnap Buttercup on the eve of her nuptials.

Joe Brack holds the Common Ground audience spellbound as he narrates Westley and Buttercup?s breatheless adventures as they scale the Cliffs of Insanity and gingerly navigate the Fire Swamp. But it is their perils in the castle and dungeons of Prince Humperdinck ? after the Man in Black thwarts the kidnappers and returns Buttercup to Florin ? that Brack paints most vividly.

The method in Brack?s madness is that he ? as teenaged Joey Brack ? gradually learns tricks to keep his high school tormenters at bay. With the persistence of Westley, the spunk of Buttercup, the swagger of Inigo Montoya, and the irrepressible humor of author William Goldman, Joe Brack is able to vanquish ? or at least lessen ? his anxieties and entertain his former schoolyard adversaries. Bravo!

SECOND OPINION: Feb. 6th Durham, NC Independent Weekly review by Zack Smith (who awarded the show 3 of 5 stars): http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/former-raleigh-resident-joe-bracks-my-princess-bride/Content?oid=3268778; and Feb. 1st Durham, NC Five Points Star review by Kate Dobbs Ariail: http://thefivepointsstar.com/2013/02/01/modern-romance-at-common-ground-theatre-in-my-princess-bride/.

City Artistic Partnerships presents MY PRINCESS BRIDE, a one-man show conceived and performed by Joe Brack at 8 p.m. Feb. 14 and 16 and 2 p.m. Feb. 17 at Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Rd., Durham, North Carolina 27705.

TICKETS: $17.

BOX OFFICE: tickets@cityartisticpartnerships.org or http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/313995.

SHOW: http://cityartisticpartnerships.org/cap/ (official website) and https://www.facebook.com/MyPrincessBride (Facebook).

PRESENTER: http://cityartisticpartnerships.org/cap/.

VENUE: http://cgtheatre.com/.

DIRECTIONS: http://cgtheatre.com/directions.

OTHER LINKS:

The Princess Bride (1973 novel): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride (Wikipedia).

The Novel: http://books.google.com/ (Google Books).

Novelist William Goldman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goldman (Wikipedia).

The Princess Bride (1987 film): http://princessbrideforever.com/ (official website) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride_%28film%29 (Wikipedia).

Playwright/Performer Joe Brack: http://joebrack.weebly.com/ (official website) and https://www.facebook.com/joe.brack (Facebook).

EDITOR?S NOTE:

Robert W. McDowell is editor and publisher of Triangle Review, a FREE weekly e-mail arts newsletter. This review is reprinted with permission from Triangle Review.

To start your FREE subscription to this newsletter, e-mail RobertM748@aol.com and type SUBSCRIBE TR in the Subject: line.

To read all of Robert W. McDowell?s Triangle Theater Review previews and reviews online at Triangle Arts & Entertainment, click http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/author/robert-w-mcdowell/.

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Tagged as: Joe Brack, Matty Griffiths, My Prncess Bride, William Goldman

Source: http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/2013/02/joe-brack-gives-a-pixilated-performance-in-my-princess-bride-at-common-ground-theatre/

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