African leaders call for U.N. mandate for Mali mission

YAMOUSSOUKRO (Reuters) - West African leaders on Thursday called for a regional military operation against al Qaeda-linked rebels in north Mali to be transformed into a U.N. peacekeeping mission as quickly as possible to secure desperately needed funding.

France sent troops into its former colony last month to drive out Islamist fighters, claiming their seizure of Mali's north last year posed a threat to international security.

Paris hopes that from March it can start withdrawing its 4,000 troops but is awaiting the effective deployment of an African force (AFISMA), plagued by logistical and financing setbacks.

Meeting in Ivory Coast's capital Yamoussoukro, presidents from West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS backed calls from France, the United States and Mali itself for the mission to receive a U.N. peacekeeping mandate.

"This shouldn't distract from ongoing operations on the ground," ECOWAS commission president Kadre Desire Ouedraogo told Reuters.

"It's simply an indication that, once peace has returned, we need the support of the United Nations system both for logistical and financial support."

Some two thirds of the 8,000 troops of the African-led mission (AFISMA) have deployed to Mali.

Many still lack the capacity to carry out combat operations and remain in southern Mali, leaving French forces and around 2,000 troops from Chad to secure northern towns and hunt down Islamist fighters hiding in desert and mountain redoubts.

After struggling for months to secure funding for its deployment, international donors pledged over $455 million for Mali at a meeting in Addis Ababa last month.

With the number of troops more than doubling since deployment plans were first hashed out last year, ECOWAS projects the cost of the mission at nearly $1 billion this year.

Transformation to a peacekeeping mission would ensure funding from the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations and facilitate the deployment of air assets essential for moving troops in Mali's vast northern desert.

However, a decision by the U.N. Security Council remains weeks, if not months, away. France's U.N. envoy said on Wednesday that the Security Council would ask Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report by end-March on the possibility of creating a peacekeeping force.

Despite the rapid French advance which has seen the Islamists' former urban strongholds rapidly retaken, security on the ground in Mali remains tenuous, amid a mounting wave of guerilla raids on towns and suicide attacks.

French and Chadian forces are currently hunting die-hard Islamists holed up in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains. Algerian television reported on Thursday that French troops there had killed Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, a leading al Qaeda field commander.

(Reporting by Ange Aboa; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-leaders-call-u-n-mandate-mali-mission-183932376.html

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Apartment building on the rise in Brooklyn, Bronx - Real Estate Weekly

The number of units for Brooklyn and the Bronx has more than doubled in the last year, according to the NYBC.

New York City apartment builders are putting their money where the future is ? and that?s Brooklyn and the Bronx according to the latest review of building permits issued last year.

A New York Building Congress analysis of U.S. Census data found that the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) issued residential permits for 10,599 units in 1,011 buildings in 2012, a 19 percent increase (in units) from 2011 when 8,936 units were authorized in 997 buildings. The number of residential permits issued has increased 75 percent since 2009 when it hit a post-recession low of 6,057 units.

Brooklyn and the Bronx have seen the biggest resurgence, with the number of residential units authorized more than doubling there last year, according to the NYBC.

Brooklyn was first among the five boroughs with 3,353 units permitted (up from 1,522 units in 2011) followed by The Bronx with 2,552 units (up from 1,116 a year ago).

Queens, moved in the opposite direction. Residential permits fell from 3,182 in 2011 to 1,529 in 2012. As a result, Queens dropped to fourth of the five boroughs in 2012, after topping the list in 2010 and 2011.

Manhattan residential permits remained stable, going from 2,535 in 2011 to 2,492 in 2012. In 2010, just 903 units were permitted in Manhattan. Staten Island experienced a modest increase, from 581 units in 2011 to 673 in 2012.

Of the 10,599 housing units authorized in 2012, 86 percent are to be located in buildings that will house five or more families.

Two family buildings accounted for 6 percent of authorized units followed by 3-4 family buildings (5 percent) and single family homes (3 percent).
?In applying for new permits, the City?s residential developers are expressing renewed confidence in the City?s future, as are the banks that have once again started providing construction financing,? said Richard Anderson, president of the Building Congress.

?These positive indicators demonstrate that the residential sector will be a strong and growing source of spending and construction employment throughout the five boroughs.?

Despite the recent resurgence, residential permits remain far below the levels attained between 2005 and 2008, a four year period in which the DOB issued permits for more than 30,000 units.

At its 2008 peak, the DOB issued permits for 33,911 units in 2,434 buildings.

But residential construction activity is on the upswing with further growth anticipated in the coming years.

In its most recent construction forecast, released in October 2012, the Building Congress estimated that 10,000 residential units would be produced in 2012, followed by 12,500 units in 2013 and 15,000 units in 2014.

?The residential market is steadily climbing back from the doldrums of 2009 and 2010,? said Anderson.

?While we are likely to remain well below the peak attained in the middle of the previous decade, the latest data is encouraging nonetheless. ?

The estimated cost of construction per unit reached $98,000 in 2012, an increase of less than $1,000 per unit from 2011. Both Staten Island ($133,000) and Queens ($105,000) topped $100,000 per unit, while the cost per unit in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx fell within a range of $93,000 to $95,000.

The discrepancy in per-unit costs is a result of Staten Island and Queens being home to more one- and two-family construction projects, which are more expensive to build than multi-family housing.

Other posts by REW Staff

Source: http://www.rew-online.com/2013/02/27/apartment-building-on-the-rise-in-brooklyn-bronx/

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Senate Democrats, GOP to stage votes on rival cuts

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2013 file photo, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Barack Obama will meet Friday with the top leaders in the House and Senate to discuss what to do about automatic cuts to the federal budget, White House and congressional leaders said. The meeting is set to take place hours after the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts will have officially kicked in. This suggests both sides are operating under the assumption a deal won't be reached to avert the cuts ahead of the March 1 deadline. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2013 file photo, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Barack Obama will meet Friday with the top leaders in the House and Senate to discuss what to do about automatic cuts to the federal budget, White House and congressional leaders said. The meeting is set to take place hours after the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts will have officially kicked in. This suggests both sides are operating under the assumption a deal won't be reached to avert the cuts ahead of the March 1 deadline. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Across-the-board spending cuts all but certain, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are staging a politically charged showdown designed to avoid public blame for any resulting inconvenience or disruption in government services.

The two parties drafted alternative measures to replace the cuts, but officials conceded in advance the rival measures were doomed.

At the White House, President Barack Obama invited congressional leaders to discuss the issue with him on Friday ? deadline day for averting the cuts, which would slash $85 billion from the military and domestic programs alike.

Democrats controlling the Senate are pushing a $110 billion plan that would block the cuts through the end of the year. They would carve 5 percent from domestic agencies and 8 percent from the Pentagon but would leave several major programs alone, including Social Security, Medicaid and food stamps, while limiting the cuts to Medicare to a 2 percent reduction to health care providers like doctors and hospitals.

The Democratic plan proposes $27.5 billion in future-year cuts in defense spending, elimination of a program of direct payments to certain farmers, and a minimum tax rate on income exceeding $1 million as the main elements of an alternative to the immediate and bruising automatic cuts, known in Washington-speak as a "sequester."

Republicans were sure to kill the Democratic alternative with a filibuster. They were poised to offer an alternative of their own that would give Obama the authority to propose a rewrite to the 2013 budget to redistribute the cuts. Obama would be unable to cut defense by more than the $43 billion reduction that the Pentagon faces and would be unable to raise taxes to undo the cuts.

The idea is that money could be transferred from lower-priority accounts to accounts funding air traffic control or meat inspection. The White House says such moves would offer only slight relief, but they could take pressure off Congress to address the sequester.

Democrats are sure to vote the GOP measure down. Both the House and the Senate are set to send their members home Thursday afternoon, even as the deadline to avoid the cuts looms the next day. Though bound to fail, the rival votes will allow both sides to claim they tried to address the cuts even as they leave them in place and exit Washington for a long weekend.

Obama on Wednesday summoned top congressional leaders for a White House meeting on Friday. Given longstanding, intractable differences over Obama's insistence that new tax revenues help replace the cuts, the meeting was not expected to produce a breakthrough.

Another topic for Friday's discussion is how to avoid Washington's next crisis, which threatens a government shutdown after March 27, when a six-month spending bill enacted last year expires.

Republicans are planning for a vote next week on a bill to fund the day-to-day operations of the government through the Sept. 30 end of the 2013 fiscal year, while keeping in place the $85 billion in automatic cuts.

The need to keep the government's doors open and lights on ? or else suffer the first government shutdown since 1996 ? requires the GOP-dominated House and the Democratic-controlled Senate to agree. Right now they hardly see eye to eye.

The House GOP plan, unveiled to the rank and file Wednesday, would award the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department with their line-by-line budgets, for a more-targeted rather than indiscriminate batch of military cuts.

But it would deny domestic agencies the same treatment, which has whipped up opposition from veteran Democratic senators on the Appropriations Committee. Domestic agencies would see their budgets frozen, which would mean no money for new initiatives such as cybersecurity or for routine increases for programs such as low-income housing.

"We're not going to do that," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. "Of course not."

By freezing budgets for domestic agencies, the Republican plan would also deny additional money to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal and to build new Coast Guard cutters. GOP initiatives such as more money for the Small Business Administration or fossil fuels research would be hurt as well, but there's little appetite for the alternative, which is to stack more than $1 trillion worth of spending bills together for a single up-or-down vote.

The GOP move to add the line-by-line spending bills for the Pentagon and veterans programs to the catchall spending bill would give the military much-sought increases for force readiness and the VA additional funding for health care.

But that approach has few fans in the White House, which is seeking money to implement Obama's signature efforts to overhaul financial regulation and the nation's health care system, or the Democratic Senate, where veteran members of the Appropriations Committee want to add a stack of bills covering domestic priorities like homeland security, NASA and federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI.

"You need balance," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "We feel as strongly about the domestic side as we do defense."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-28-Budget%20Battle/id-1755782746fa40ea86d1764ebf876307

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Green Blog: A Pep Talk on Energy Innovation

In what might prove to be his last public appearance as energy secretary, Steven Chu delivered a pep talk of sorts on Wednesday to hundreds of entrepreneurs, researchers and others at the ARPA-E conference on energy innovation in suburban Maryland.

Toward the outset, Dr. Chu, a key creator of ARPA-E, which stands for the Advanced Research Projects Agency ? Energy, ticked off a list of historical predictions about new technology that turned out to be wrong.

Among them was one by the head of the British post office in 1878, two years after Alexander Graham Bell received a patent on the telephone. ?The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not,? the postal official reportedly said. ?We have plenty of messenger boys.??

Dr. Chu declared that entrepreneurs, engineers, bankers and others would have to push hard for new technologies, even if the goals seem highly ambitious. For now, he noted, many in those ranks have opted not to devote a lot of money to technology that could limit emissions of climate-changing gases.

?That is a false choice,?? Dr. Chu said. The goal should rather be to strive for for innovation, like an electric car that is cost-competitive with a gasoline model, or a better way to make electricity, he said.

He quoted the old aphorism that the Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, but because something better was available.

Earlier Wednesday morning, the audience heard from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, who said said he was tempted to talk about his research into ?near isothermal compressed air energy storage.?? He then paused, and the audience waited with apparent interest.

?I thought that was funny, guys,?? Mr. Bloomberg said.

The audience, many of whose members are normally eager to hear about all such research, chuckled and then listened to the mayor?s presentation on New York City?s efforts to prepare for climate change, a growing population, aging infrastructure and other challenges.

Dr. Chu, a Nobel physics laureate who plans to return to his research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., said he hoped that it would turn out that he hired the right people in his tenure as energy secretary. He said he had tried to involve himself in hiring down to the level of program manager, ?seven or eight levels down,?? in the hope of achieving optimal results.
.
He exhorted the audience in particular to find energy solutions to climate change. The alternative, Dr. Chu said, is that future generations will live in a wrecked climate and wonder: ?What were our parents thinking? Didn?t they care about us??

That brought a sustained standing ovation.

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/a-pep-talk-on-energy-innovation/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Horse meat sold in beef products in Hungary - watchdog

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Horse meat labelled as beef has been sold in Hungary, the National Food Chain Safety Office (Nebih) said on Tuesday.

Gyorgy Pleva, director of Nebih told television channel TV2 that the authorities were looking into three separate cases of suspected horse meat found at the retail and wholesale level.

"Horse meat certainly got into (shops)," he said, adding that all the shipments investigated by the authority took place last year.

Horse meat has been found in beef products across Europe in recent weeks, damaging confidence in the continent's vast and complex food industry.

A small amount of hamburger meat containing horse meat was sold last summer in a Hungarian restaurant, Pleva said, without disclosing the origin of the product.

The Hungarian distributor of food brand Nowaco will withdraw a lasagne product in a few days, which is suspected of containing horse meat, he added.

"What we can say is that even if there is such a product, that will be taken off from the shelves within days," he said.

DNA tests in the Czech Republic have shown that two batches of frozen Nowaco Lasagne Bolognese in a branch of the Tesco supermarket chain contained horse meat, and authorities said the products listed Luxembourg as the country of origin.

Pleva said another lasagne product, which was made in Hungary, was also being probed based on a report from Denmark, the intended destination of the product. He did not clarify whether this product got into Danish shops and could not immediately be reached for further comment.

(Reporting by Sandor Peto; editing by Jane Baird)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/horse-meat-sold-beef-products-hungary-watchdog-125413422.html

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Wii-playing surgeons may improve performance on laparoscopic procedures

Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jyoti Madhusoodanan
onepress@plos.org
415-568-4545
Public Library of Science

Surgeons who played games on Nintendo Wii improved certain metrics of performance on laparascopies

Laparoscopic surgeons may improve certain aspects of surgical performance by regularly playing on a Nintendo Wii, according to research published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Gregorio Patrizi and colleagues from the University of Rome, Italy.

Considering the technical skills required to perform laparascopic procedures, several studies aim to evaluate and improve training for surgeons outside the operating room. Previous studies have assessed the effect of playing video games on hand-eye coordination and spatial attention. In the current research, the authors combined these two aspects by analyzing how a four-week training regimen on the Nintendo Wii impacted the laparoscopic skills of post-graduate residents in the first or second year of their surgical training. Half the surgeons were assigned to a training regimen on the Wii while the other half were not. Before and after the regimen, all the participants' performance was tested on a laparoscopic simulator.

The study found that participants in both groups improved their skills over the four week period, but those who had been trained on the Wii showed a significant improvement over the other group in their performance on several specific metrics like economy of instrument movements and efficient cautery. The study concludes, "The Nintendo Wii might be helpful, inexpensive and entertaining part of the training of young laparoscopists, in addition to a standard surgical education based on simulators and the operating room."

###

Citation: Giannotti D, Patrizi G, Di Rocco G, Vestri AR, Semproni CP, et al. (2013) Play to Become a Surgeon: Impact of Nintendo WII Training on Laparoscopic Skills. PLoS ONE 8(2): e57372. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057372

Financial Disclosure: No current external funding sources for this study.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057372

---

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?

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

Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jyoti Madhusoodanan
onepress@plos.org
415-568-4545
Public Library of Science

Surgeons who played games on Nintendo Wii improved certain metrics of performance on laparascopies

Laparoscopic surgeons may improve certain aspects of surgical performance by regularly playing on a Nintendo Wii, according to research published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Gregorio Patrizi and colleagues from the University of Rome, Italy.

Considering the technical skills required to perform laparascopic procedures, several studies aim to evaluate and improve training for surgeons outside the operating room. Previous studies have assessed the effect of playing video games on hand-eye coordination and spatial attention. In the current research, the authors combined these two aspects by analyzing how a four-week training regimen on the Nintendo Wii impacted the laparoscopic skills of post-graduate residents in the first or second year of their surgical training. Half the surgeons were assigned to a training regimen on the Wii while the other half were not. Before and after the regimen, all the participants' performance was tested on a laparoscopic simulator.

The study found that participants in both groups improved their skills over the four week period, but those who had been trained on the Wii showed a significant improvement over the other group in their performance on several specific metrics like economy of instrument movements and efficient cautery. The study concludes, "The Nintendo Wii might be helpful, inexpensive and entertaining part of the training of young laparoscopists, in addition to a standard surgical education based on simulators and the operating room."

###

Citation: Giannotti D, Patrizi G, Di Rocco G, Vestri AR, Semproni CP, et al. (2013) Play to Become a Surgeon: Impact of Nintendo WII Training on Laparoscopic Skills. PLoS ONE 8(2): e57372. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057372

Financial Disclosure: No current external funding sources for this study.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057372

---

[ | 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/plos-ws022213.php

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Video: Countdown to Friday's Sequester

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50964939/

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Kerry regales Berliners with tales of divided city

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a ?Youth Connect: Berlin? event in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry?s first trip overseas as secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a ?Youth Connect: Berlin? event in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry?s first trip overseas as secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with the children of U.S. Embassy staff at the Embassy in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry?s first trip overseas as secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

BERLIN (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told young Germans on Tuesday of his adventures as a 12-year-old son of an American diplomat in divided postwar Berlin, and urged them to be true to their ideals and values as Europe struggles to emerge from economic doldrums and deal with the threat of terrorism.

Speaking at a town hall meeting Tuesday, Kerry spoke a few sentences of passable German to the delight of a crowd in a packed Internet cafe before regaling the audience with tales of his boyhood in Berlin in 1954.

He recalled a clandestine bicycle ride into communist East Berlin. "I saw the difference between east and west. I saw the people wearing darker clothing. There were fewer cars. I didn't feel the energy or the movement."

When he returned home, Kerry said, his father "got very upset with me and said: 'You could have created an international incident. I could have lost my job.' So I lost my passport, and I was grounded and I never made another trip like that."

Today, Kerry said: "I never forgot and now it's vanished. Now, so many other countries have followed with this spirit of giving life to people's individual hopes and aspirations."

Kerry urged Germans to be tolerant of all points of view and noted that in America "you have a right to be stupid." He said tolerance of unpopular, offensive or otherwise objectionable views was a virtue and "something worth fighting for."

Kerry also took the opportunity to plug a New England clothing line after one audience member complimented him on his pink tie. A graduate of the noted St. Paul's School in New Hampshire and Yale University, Kerry extolled the sartorial virtues of Vineyard Vines, a Connecticut purveyor of ? in its own description ? "preppy" clothes that has a pink whale for a logo.

"I don't own any stock in the company," he said to laughter.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-26-EU-Kerry-Germany/id-e95390bbcd6d497899982fc11475f28b

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Police: Gaza militants fire rocket into Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israeli police say a rocket has been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. A police spokesman says there was damage to a road but no injuries.

It's the first such rocket from the Palestinian territory to land in Israel since Israeli-Gaza fighting last November.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the remains of a rocket were found on Tuesday near the city of Ashkelon, in southern Israel.

There have been protests throughout the West Bank in recent days in support of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. This weekend, one Palestinian prisoner died under disputed circumstances, prompting more protests.

A statement from the Palestinian president's office says President Mahmoud Abbas has instructed Palestinian security officials to preserve order in the West Bank, but he blames Israel for the violence.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-gaza-militants-fire-rocket-israel-055058642.html

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Italian election inconclusive; global markets drop

Italian Premier Mario Monti talks to the media during a press conference in his party headquarters, in Rome, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. The prospect of political paralysis hung over Italy on Monday as partial official results in crucial elections showed an upstart protest campaign led by a comedian making stunning inroads, and mainstream forces of center-left and center-right wrestling for control of Parliament's two houses. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Italian Premier Mario Monti talks to the media during a press conference in his party headquarters, in Rome, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. The prospect of political paralysis hung over Italy on Monday as partial official results in crucial elections showed an upstart protest campaign led by a comedian making stunning inroads, and mainstream forces of center-left and center-right wrestling for control of Parliament's two houses. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A TV broadcasts an image of leader of the 5 Star Movement Beppe Grillo, at the Democratic Party press center in Rome, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. The prospect of political paralysis hung over Italy on Monday as partial official results in crucial elections showed an upstart protest campaign led by a comedian making stunning inroads, and mainstream forces of center-left and center-right wrestling for control of Parliament's two houses. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Currency traders monitor the yen-dollar situation at a foreign exchange company in Tokyo,Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. In currency markets, the dollar was down 0.7 percent to 91.92 yen. But the yen, which has fallen by about 20 percent in recent weeks, is still much weaker than it was for most of last year. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Currency traders work at a foreign exchange company in Tokyo,Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. In currency markets, the dollar was down 0.7 percent to 91.92 yen. But the yen, which has fallen by about 20 percent in recent weeks, is still much weaker than it was for most of last year. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

A currency trader works at a foreign exchange company in Tokyo,Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. In currency markets, the dollar was down 0.7 percent to 91.92 yen. But the yen, which has fallen by about 20 percent in recent weeks, is still much weaker than it was for most of last year. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

ROME (AP) ? Italy emerged from elections Tuesday with no clear winner, driving markets around the world markedly lower as investors worried that one of Europe's biggest economies would be unable to build a governing coalition that can stay the course on unpopular austerity measures.

A day after polling ended, a few seats in Parliament based on Italians' voting abroad still remained to be decided, but their numbers won't ease the gridlock. European leaders pleaded with politicians in Italy to quickly form a government to continue to enact reforms to lower Italy's critically high debt and spare Europe another spike in its four-year financial crisis.

If Italian parties fail to form a governing coalition, new elections would be required, causing more uncertainty and a leadership vacuum.

"What is now decisive for Italy ? but, because Italy is such an important country for Europe, also for the whole of Europe ? is that a stable government that is capable of acting can be formed as quickly as possible," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin.

The results of the election are a rejection of the tough austerity approach of the previous technocratic government led by Mario Monti. A center-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani appears to have won a narrow victory in the lower house of parliament, while the Senate looks split with no party in control.

Italy's FTSE MIB index was trading 4.7 percent lower at 15,586, having earlier been nearly 5 percent down at one point Tuesday. Some of its banking stocks were briefly suspended after precipitous falls at the bell.

The interest rate on the country's benchmark 10-year bond ? an important gauge of investor sentiment ? rose by 0.25 percent to 4.74 percent. Investors sought protection in the bonds of more stable and prosperous economies, and the interest rate on Germany's 10-year bonds fell 0.10 percent to 1.47 percent.

Whether Tuesday's negative market reaction extends further into the week depends on how quickly a solution is reached in Italy.

Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian premier whose center-right coalition did better than expected, insisted that a government can be formed and called on Italians to ignore the "crazy markets." Berlusconi is a key player as his coalition is now the second-biggest bloc in the upper chamber.

"Markets go their own way. They are independent and also a little crazy," he said, adding that a government can be cobbled together if rival politicians are willing to "make some sacrifices."

There were some indications that he could be right: An Italian treasury bond sale totaling ?8.75 billion ($11.75 billion) sold out Tuesday morning despite higher rates.

But stock indexes across Europe were trading sharply lower, though above the lows they hit in the first hour of trading. Germany's DAX was down 1.8 percent at 7,636 while the CAC-40 in France fell 2.2 percent to 3,639. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 1.3 percent lower at 6,271

Italy is hugely important for the future of the euro, and its apparent stability over the past six months has been one of the reasons that concerns over the currency have eased. Of the 17 European Union countries that use the euro, Italy has the second-highest debt burden as a proportion of its gross domestic product, at 127 percent. Only Greece's is higher. Italy has to spend around ?80 billion a year just to service its debt.

The Monti government enacted wide-ranging reforms to the budget and the economy. Though its borrowing rates have fallen in financial markets, the cost to Italians has been high, with the country mired in an 18-month recession and unemployment on the rise.

Monti was a big loser in the election and Berlusconi ruled out an alliance with his successor, whom he blamed for driving Italy deeper into recession.

The worry across Europe, and in financial markets everywhere, is that Italy's appetite for reform may wane and its debt situation may deteriorate.

Though Italy's annual borrowing ? its budget deficit ? is relatively small compared with other euro countries at 3 percent of its annual gross domestic product, its overall debt stands at a colossal ?2 trillion.

Last July, concerns over the country's ability to pay down its debt ? despite the Monti reforms ? and the stability of the wider eurozone sent the interest rate on its 10-year bonds back up to a near-unsustainable 6.36 percent. This prompted European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi to offer to buy up unlimited quantities of short-term debt in countries struggling with high borrowing costs.

The surprise factor in Sunday and Monday's election was the number of votes for comic-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo, whose 5 Star Movement capitalized on a wave of voter disgust with the ruling political class.

In Spain, another country struggling with austerity, ministers expressed concern over the Italian election results but were confident they won't upset plans to lift Europe out of the crisis.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said the result was "a jump to nowhere with positive consequences for nobody."

The EU's economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn, told reporters in Copenhagen Tuesday that it was important "Italy pursues reform for the sake of sustainable growth and job creation."

The euro was hit hard late Monday on the initial fallout of the election results, nearly dropping below $1.30 for the first time since early 2013. However, it recovered Tuesday, trading 0.1 percent higher at $1.3087.

Wall Street was poised for a steady opening, a day after the main U.S. indexes had their worst session since last November. Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures were up 0.2 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei slid 2.3 percent to 11,398.81 as the yen appreciated to the potential detriment of the country's exporters. The dollar was 0.4 percent lower at $92.23 yen. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.3 percent to 22,519.69 while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5 percent to 2,000.01.

Oil prices took a hit too, with the benchmark New York rate 64 cents lower at $92.47 a barrel.

"Clearly markets are taking fright from the messy and chaotic Italian election result," said Louise Cooper, financial analyst at CooperCity.

____

Pylas reported from London.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-26-World%20Markets/id-f7219374189948ef9122287f39afbf52

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Do You Want The Government To Manage Your 401k Or IRA? | The ...

The Democrats have had their eyes on our 401k and IRA accounts for quite a while. The national debt is $16.5 trillion and growing by the minute. Their appetite for spending is insatiable, and there aren?t enough earners left to tax to pay for it all. But, look at all the money middle class Americans have saved for their retirements. Shortly after the 2012 election the left started referring to 401k?s as subsidies, and at the time I noted:

The main message here is that anyone who worked and saved for what they have didn?t earn it. Your earnings, in their minds, belong to someone else. You may not be rich by anyone?s standards, but if you worked and saved for your whole life, in their minds you?re fair game, because there?s someone out there who didn?t work and save. And now somehow that?s your problem. This is the Obama world. Maybe you worked and saved for your entire life as a middle class American. If the money you saved pushes you into the ?rich? category by their standards you now must be punished.

That?s how they think, but they know they can?t come out and say that. So instead they?re going to ?help you? manage your retirement.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is weighing whether it should take on a role in helping Americans manage the $19.4 trillion they have put into retirement savings, a move that would be the agency?s first foray into consumer investments.

?That?s one of the things we?ve been exploring and are interested in in terms of whether and what authority we have,? bureau director Richard Cordray said in an interview. He didn?t provide additional details.

They have such a great track record when they ?foray? into other areas of our lives. Had they not ?forayed? into the mortgage market our retirement accounts wouldn?t have taken such huge hits in 2008. If they haven?t forayed into bank bailouts the taxpayers wouldn?t be giving real subsidies to the Too Big To Fail banks to the tune of $83 billion per year. But we?re supposed to trust them with our retirement accounts? Look at Social Security and the public pensions, they?re all going broke. That?s why they want to foray into our 401k?s.

That article linked above is a Bloomberg article from about a month ago. Zero Hedge picked up on it earlier this month, and recently American Thinker had a lengthy article on the subject and today Maggie?s Notebook covered it. But I haven?t heard much about it in the rest of the media. Be sure to follow the links, they all have a lot more information. ?And the idea of the government raiding our retirement accounts isn?t new, they?ve been talking about it since at least 2008 ? see here, here and here. I?m sure they?re just waiting for the right crisis to come along so they can justify their actions.

Update: Here?s an angle I hadn?t thought of before. Do you think the Democrats float these ideas so people get nervous and withdraw funds from their 401k?s prematurely so the government will get a tax windfall?

Tags: 401k, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, control, government, IRA, manage, retirement

Source: http://lonelyconservative.com/2013/02/do-you-want-the-government-to-manage-your-401k-or-ira/

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ASUS MeMo Pad tablets launching in the UK beginning early March

More ASUS related news has emerged from Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, this time concerning the UK launch of their MeMo Pad tablets. Both the 7-inch and 10.1-inch tablets will be available to buy in the UK, with the first launching from March 7. 

The 10.1-inch ME301T -- more commonly referred to as the Smart 10 -- is a Tegra 3 packing, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet with an extremely competitive price point of £249. It houses a 1280x800 resolution IPS display, 16GB of on-board storage and will only be available in Midnight Blue at launch with other colors to follow. Several retailers have picked up the MeMo Pad Smart 10 including Currys PCWorld, Tesco and Amazon. Pre-orders should be available from each of these online now, with in-store purchases set to begin on March 7. 

The MeMo Pad ME172V -- or MeMo Pad 7 as we shall refer to it -- again runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but is a more budget oriented offering. It's powered by a 1GHz VIA WM8950 processor, and has a display resolution of 1024x600 with 16GB of on-board storage. The killer feature on the MeMo Pad 7 though is the price, set to arrive for just £129 some time around mid-April. 

The full press release can be found after the break. 

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/eTV6gLmNFEU/story01.htm

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Indiana stays No. 1 in AP Top 25, Gonzaga No. 2

Indiana is No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25 for the fourth straight week, while Gonzaga moved to No. 2 for the first time in school history.

While the West Coast Bulldogs made some news at the top of the poll Monday, Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs from Down South, moved into the rankings for the first time since a 13-week run in 1984-85, their only appearance in the poll.

Louisiana Tech, which is 25th this week, was led back then to a ranking as high as No. 7 by a forward named Karl Malone. Gonzaga at that time had a point guard named John Stockton. They went on to become one of the greatest combinations in NBA history with the Utah Jazz, were members of the Dream Team and both were inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Hoosiers, who have been ranked No. 1 for a total of 10 weeks this season, received all but one first-place vote from the 65-member national media panel.

Gonzaga, which got the other No. 1 vote, was ranked third last week. The Bulldogs were also that high in the poll for the final two weeks of 2003-04.

Duke moved up three spots to third and is followed by Michigan and Miami, which dropped from second after falling to Wake Forest, the Hurricanes' first Atlantic Coast Conference loss this season.

Kansas is sixth, followed by Georgetown, Florida, Michigan State and Louisville.

Saint Louis, which beat Butler and VCU last week, moved into 18th in the poll, the Billikens' first ranking since being in for one week last season.

Colorado State, which was 22nd and lost twice last week, and VCU, which was 24th, dropped out.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indiana-stays-no-1-ap-top-25-gonzaga-174431698--spt.html

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Kerry regales Berliners with tales of divided city

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a ?Youth Connect: Berlin? event in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry?s first trip overseas as secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a ?Youth Connect: Berlin? event in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry?s first trip overseas as secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with the children of U.S. Embassy staff at the Embassy in Berlin on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Berlin is the second stop in Kerry?s first trip overseas as secretary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

BERLIN (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told young Germans on Tuesday of his adventures as a 12-year-old son of an American diplomat in divided postwar Berlin, and urged them to be true to their ideals and values as Europe struggles to emerge from economic doldrums and deal with the threat of terrorism.

Speaking at a town hall meeting Tuesday, Kerry spoke a few sentences of passable German to the delight of a crowd in a packed Internet cafe before regaling the audience with tales of his boyhood in Berlin in 1954.

He recalled a clandestine bicycle ride into communist East Berlin. "I saw the difference between east and west. I saw the people wearing darker clothing. There were fewer cars. I didn't feel the energy or the movement."

When he returned home, Kerry said, his father "got very upset with me and said: 'You could have created an international incident. I could have lost my job.' So I lost my passport, and I was grounded and I never made another trip like that."

Today, Kerry said: "I never forgot and now it's vanished. Now, so many other countries have followed with this spirit of giving life to people's individual hopes and aspirations."

Kerry urged Germans to be tolerant of all points of view and noted that in America "you have a right to be stupid." He said tolerance of unpopular, offensive or otherwise objectionable views was a virtue and "something worth fighting for."

Kerry also took the opportunity to plug a New England clothing line after one audience member complimented him on his pink tie. A graduate of the noted St. Paul's School in New Hampshire and Yale University, Kerry extolled the sartorial virtues of Vineyard Vines, a Connecticut purveyor of ? in its own description ? "preppy" clothes that has a pink whale for a logo.

"I don't own any stock in the company," he said to laughter.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-26-EU-Kerry-Germany/id-e95390bbcd6d497899982fc11475f28b

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Egypt: Hot Air Balloon Crashes Near Luxor, Killing 19 Tourists

CAIRO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A hot air balloon crashed near the Egyptian town of Luxor on Tuesday, killing 19 tourists who were aboard, a spokesman for companies that operate balloon flights in the area told Reuters.
Ahmed Aboud added that one tourist and the balloon pilot had survived the accident, which happened after a gas explosion at 1,000 feet (300 metres). He said the tourists were from a variety of countries but did not immediately have information on their nationalities.
"There were 20 passengers aboard. An explosion happened and 19 passengers died. One tourist and the pilot survived," he said by telephone. Aboud is the representative of eight companies that operate balloons in Luxor. (Reporting by Tom Perry; editing by David Stamp)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/egypt-hot-air-balloon-crash_n_2763434.html

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Pope will keep title "His Holiness" after resignation

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 2. Matt Kuchar $1,987,000 3. Hunter Mahan $1,412,965 4. John Merrick $1,296,014 5. Phil Mickelson $1,232,760 6. Dustin Johnson $1,200,125 7. Tiger Woods $1,144,000 8. Russell Henley $1,129,080 9. Brian Gay $1,089,181 10. Charles Howell III $1,087,944 11. Jason Day $1,009,164 12. Chris Kirk $990,013 13. Steve Stricker $940,000 14. Josh Teater $870,934 15. Bill Haas $816,300 16. Jimmy Walker $812,620 17. Scott Piercy $789,592 18. Charlie Beljan $785,800 19. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-keep-title-holiness-resignation-120221732.html

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Study: Mediterranean Diet Can Cut Heart Disease (Voice Of America)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287319592?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Karen Olson taps religious groups to help the homeless

In the early 1980s Karen Olson was in a job she enjoyed, working on marketing projects for a pharmaceutical company.

Then she met Millie.

The 70-something woman was living on the street in New York City when Ms. Olson encountered her on her way to a business luncheon. Olson's awareness of the homeless problem in the city already had been heightened by those she had come across previously. She decided to buy Millie a sandwich and orange juice.

The two began to talk and learn more about each other. In the months that followed, Olson began to prepare sandwiches with her two sons to bring to New York City for the homeless population on alternate Sundays.

RECOMMENDED: Budget cuts: five groups likely to feel the pinch

Fast forward two years, and Olson launched a national organization geared toward taking homeless families off the streets and helping them to achieve self-sufficiency.

Today Olson is founder and president of Family Promise, formerly the National Interfaith Hospitality Network, a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization that works to provide shelter, meals, and support services to homeless families, along with family-mentoring services and job-training programs.

The organization, celebrating its 25th anniversary, now has 182 affiliates in 41 states, with new affiliates joining every year. Its mission, helping those most in need to achieve independence and self-sufficiency, stems from Olson?s personal volunteer work.

?I always had a desire to make a difference in people?s lives,? she says. ?I felt strongly that I should involve the religious community ? not just churches, but churches, synagogues, and mosques.?

After volunteering on her own to help the homeless in New York City and near her home in Union County, N.J., Olson held a conference that drew 200 guests and helped to raise awareness of the issue.

In the process of meeting regularly to find ways to help those in need, Olson says, the idea was hatched to establish a network of congregations in a variety of faith communities to provide shelter to homeless families. Since running a shelter requires extensive resources, a group of faith communities would share the task, rotating on a weekly basis to provide coverage throughout the year.

The 11 congregations rotated to provide shelter and meals. A van was acquired to transport families to a day program at the local YMCA. Within six weeks, Olson says the families wound up finding affordable housing.

The idea has spread ever since, and now involves more than 6,000 congregations.

Olson says the model of rotating congregations makes the program manageable for small faith communities.

?It allows many congregations to participate, and many volunteers to get involved,? she says. ?Families not only feel supported, but many contacts grow out of the involvement.?

And the program has seen results ? 77 percent of families served find affordable housing, many in a matter of weeks.

Over the quarter-century history of Family Promise, Olson says, the root of homelessness ? poverty ? has remained the same.

?Unfortunately, you cannot talk about homelessness without talking about housing,? she says. ?Most of the families who come to our program are spending 50 percent or more of their income on rent.?

One medical bill or car repair, she points out, can put a family on the street.

But what has also remained constant is the group of volunteers ? currently 160,000 strong ? that participate in the organization?s mission through its affiliates.

While it is slightly more challenging now to recruit volunteers ? due in large part to declining membership in some congregations ? the organization?s congregation-based model makes it relatively easy to find a helping hand.

?I think one of the reasons we have been able to grow is because people really do yearn to make a difference,? she says.

Even after 25 years, her job is still incredibly rewarding. And with more than a half-million beneficiaries of Family Promise ? 60 percent of them children ? Olson says that tangible differences are being made.

?I know lives are changed,? she says.

RECOMMENDED: Budget cuts: five groups likely to feel the pinch

And it's not just the lives of those who have regained their independence and found housing. It is also the lives of those who volunteer, the congregants who link faith and social justice together. Every now and then, Olson will hear from a pastor who shares how the spirit of his or her congregation was transformed through the service opportunities.

?The most rewarding part is seeing people caring about people,? Olson says. ?You just have to provide a way for people to get involved and make a difference in peoples? lives.?

Olson sees a very basic lesson in Family Promise: ?It shows that we really do care about one another.?

? For more information, visit www.familypromise.org.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/karen-olson-taps-religious-groups-help-homeless-161529181.html

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NCAA accuses Miami of 'lack of institutional control'

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami has finally received its notice of allegations from the NCAA, a long-awaited document accuses the Hurricanes of a "lack of institutional control" within its athletic department.

The allegations arrived on Tuesday. The institutional-control charge is typically one of the most severe the NCAA can bring after an investigation of rules violations. The governing body for college athletics declined comment Tuesday, one day after revealing that it was erasing some elements of its case against Miami because the information was obtained in impermissible ways.

"We deeply regret any violations, but we have suffered enough," Miami President Donna Shalala said in a statement Tuesday night.

A person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that several former members of Miami coaching staffs are named in the notice of allegations, including Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith, who was with the Hurricanes from 2004-11.

Next up: The sanctions phase, where Miami's penalties will be decided. The Hurricanes have already self-imposed several sanctions, including sitting out two bowl games and a conference football championship game. Shalala said Monday she believes those punishments should be enough.

This saga started in September 2010, when the university told the NCAA that convicted Ponzi scheme architect and former Miami booster Nevin Shapiro made allegations to the school against former players. Shapiro said he interacted mostly with football players and recruits, as well as a significantly smaller number of men's basketball players.

Shapiro is serving a 20-year prison term for masterminding a $930 million fraud scheme.

"Many of the charges brought forth are based on the word of a man who made a fortune by lying," Shalala wrote. "The NCAA enforcement staff acknowledged to the University that if Nevin Shapiro, a convicted con man, said something more than once, it considered the allegation `corroborated' - an argument which is both ludicrous and counter to legal practice"

Miami wants to get through the sanctions portion of the process as quickly as possible. But typically, it takes about three months for a hearing, and then can take several weeks -- if not months -- more for the penalties to be handed down. The sides coming to a settlement beforehand is another possibility.

Shalala said Miami will work diligently to prepare a response to the allegations within 90 days.

"We trust that the Committee on Infractions will provide the fairness and integrity missing during the investigative process," Shalala wrote.

Miami and the NCAA have gone back and forth on the wording of the notice of allegations for several weeks, and the long-awaited letter was nearly delivered last month. That's when the NCAA acknowledged that some mistakes were made by its own enforcement department. And that resulted in some allegations coming out of the letter.

It also led to yet another delay in the process, which many at Miami believe has dragged on for way too long.

"This cannot end quickly enough," Miami coach football Al Golden said earlier this month.

Within about six months of Miami originally bringing the information it had on Shapiro forward, an NCAA investigation was quietly underway, and the story became widely known in August 2011 after Shapiro provided Yahoo Sports with details of what he claimed to have given dozens of athletes, recruits and coaches over an eight-year period.

Among the gifts Shapiro alleged to provide: Memorabilia, cash amounts both large and small, dinners, strip-club trips, prostitutes, and even an abortion.

Shalala, however, labeled most of those alleged benefits as "sensationalized media accounts."

"Despite their efforts over two and a half years, the NCAA enforcement staff could not find evidence of prostitution, expensive cars for players, expensive dinners paid for by boosters, player bounty payments, rampant alcohol and drug use, or the alleged hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts given to student-athletes, as reported in the media," Shalala wrote. "The fabricated story played well -- the facts did not."

Several Miami football and men's basketball players have either served suspensions, paid restitution or both in the past two years after their involvement with Shapiro was discovered. Apparently upset with how people he thought were friends turned their back on him following his conviction for the Ponzi operation, Shapiro vowed that he would take down the program, and his attorney -- a Miami alum -- was willing to help the NCAA's cause.

Documents released Monday by the NCAA showed that Shapiro's attorney, Maria Elena Perez, offered to assist investigators working the Miami case by using subpoena power to depose witnesses under the guise of a bankruptcy case. NCAA enforcement officials accepted her offer, even feeding her questions to ask for at least one of the depositions, and records show they paid at least $19,000 for her work - though she billed them for three times that much.

Perez did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday night. Shawn Eichorst, the Nebraska athletic director who held the same role at Miami for some of the NCAA probe, also declined comment. Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who was the AD at Miami for some of the time when Shapiro was a booster, did not respond to a request for comment.

Shalala also said former Miami athletic director Paul Dee, who held the job before Hocutt, also was not interviewed by the NCAA before his death in May 2012. Dee also was a member of the NCAA's committee on infractions, most notably when sanctions -- including a two-year bowl ban, scholarship reductions and vacating victories -- came down against Southern California in 2010, stemming from improper benefits given to then-Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush by sports marketers. Dee chaired the committee at the time, then saying "higher-profile players require higher-profile monitoring."

"The NCAA enforcement staff failed, even after repeated requests, to interview many essential witnesses of great integrity who could have provided first-hand testimony, including, unbelievably, Paul Dee, who has since passed away, but who served as Miami Athletic Director during many of the years that violations were alleged to have occurred," Shalala wrote. "How could a supposedly thorough and fair investigation not even include the Director of Athletics?"

Any allegations that came from the answers given in those depositions were taken out of the Miami case, the NCAA said on Monday when it unveiled the scope of its alliance with Perez and acknowledged that missteps were made. The NCAA's vice president of enforcement, who oversaw the Miami probe, has been ousted, and some investigators who worked the case are also no longer with the association.

That prompted Miami to lash out strongly at the NCAA on Monday, with Shalala saying "the lengthy and already flawed investigation has demonstrated a disappointing pattern of unprofessional and unethical behavior."

The NCAA declined comment Tuesday about Shalala's remarks, which included a demand that Miami not face any additional sanctions.

Source: http://feeds.cbssports.com/click.phdo?i=5a03a242dcc1bf8ee5d2b22f9fcc0836

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USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 5.8 -- 11km NNW of Coahuayana, Mexico

US Geological Survey
Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:48 CST

? USGS

Event Time:
2013-02-20 21:23:16 UTC
2013-02-20 14:23:16 UTC-07:00 at epicenter

Location:
18.824?N 103.728?W depth=66.0km (41.0mi)

Nearby Cities:
11km (7mi) NNW of Coahuayana, Mexico
19km (12mi) ESE of Tecoman, Mexico
27km (17mi) ESE of Armeria, Mexico
42km (26mi) S of Coquimatlan, Mexico
488km (303mi) W of Mexico City, Mexico

Technical Data

Source: http://www.sott.net/article/258651-USGS-Earthquake-Magnitude-5-8-11km-NNW-of-Coahuayana-Mexico

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USU football: Two Aggies heading to NFL Combine

Former Utah State football players ? cornerback Will Davis and running back Kerwynn Williams ? will participate in the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine, which will begin February 23 in Indianapolis, Ind.

In all, 333 players were invited to the combine, including 60 defensive backs and 38 running backs.

The 2013 Scouting Combine is the annual job fair for prospective new NFL players. For six days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, players are put through a series of drills, tests and interviews with more than 600 NFL personnel. The 2013 NFL Draft is slated for April 26-28.

Beginning Thursday, Feb. 21, the NFL Network and NFL.com will broadcast live from Lucas Oil Stadium, providing an up-close look at the more than 330 NFL prospects looking to take the next step in their careers. Live coverage of on-field workouts begins Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7:00 a.m. (MT) with the offensive linemen, tight ends and kickers; and continues with the running backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers on Sunday, Feb. 24; linebackers and defensive linemen on Monday, Feb. 25; and defensive backs on Tuesday, Feb. 26. Coverage of workouts begins each day at 7:00 a.m. (MT).

Both Davis and Williams earned All-American honors following their senior seasons at Utah State as Davis was named a third-team All-America by CBSSports.com, a fourth-team All-America by Phil Steele and an honorable mention All-America by SI.com. Williams was also named an honorable mention All-America by SI.com.

Davis, a 6-foot-0, 186-pound cornerback from Spokane, Wash. (Central Valley HS/DeAnza College), finished the 2012 season ranking tied for second in the nation in passes defended (1.69 pg) and tied for 17th nationally in interceptions (0.38 pg). Davis concluded the season with 17 pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, 4.5 tackles for loss and 64 total tackles (46-solo, 18-assist), as he ranked 35th in the WAC with 4.9 tackles per game.

As a senior, Davis registered five interceptions to rank as the most by a USU player since 2003, and those five picks came in consecutive games, which is the longest streak by a USU player since 1973. Davis also returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown against Idaho, which was USU's first pick-six since 2007. In all, Davis' 100 interception return yards in 2012 rank tied for the seventh-most in a single season in school history.

Williams, a 5-8, 189-pounder from Las Vegas, Nev. (Valley HS), finished his senior season at Utah State ranking 10th in the nation in all-purpose yards (171.2 ypg), 13th in rushing (116.3 ypg) and tied for 20th in scoring (9.2 ppg). Williams rushed for 1,512 yards in 2012 to rank fourth all-time at USU for a single season. He also ranked second all-time in school history in a single-season in points scored (120), second in total touchdowns (20), third in rushing touchdowns (15) and third in rushing average (6.9 ypc).

Williams also finished his senior season ranking second on the team in receptions (45) and receiving yards (697), while tying for first in receiving touchdowns (5). He set the single-season school record for receiving yards by a running back, while his 45 receptions are the second-most by a running back in a single season in school history. Williams also had 29 plays of 20-plus yards on the year with 21 runs and eight receptions, including eight rushes and three receptions of 50-plus yards.

In his final collegiate game, Williams was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2012 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl as he rushed for a career-high 235 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns in Utah State's 41-15 win against Toledo. Williams, who ended the 2012 season with four-straight 100-yard rushing games, was also named to the CBSSports.com 2012-12 All-Bowl team for his performance against the Rockets.

For his career, Williams is the Utah State and WAC record holder with 6,928 all-purpose yards (2,515-rushing, 870-receiving, 3,408-kick returns, 135-punt returns), which also ranks 11th all-time in FBS history. He also ranks first all-time in school history in kickoff return yards (3.408), seventh in rushing yards (2,515), seventh in rushing touchdowns (22) and seventh in total touchdowns (28), while ranking fifth all-time in career rushing average (6.6 ypc).

Doug Hoffman is the assistant athletic director for Utah State University Athletic Media Relations.

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865573527/USU-football-Two-Aggies-heading-to-NFL-Combine.html

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