Teachers, Holocaust survivor give lessons of tolerance to Texas students

La Vernia -

La Vernia Junior High 8th graders joined forces with Navarro Intermediate School 5th graders Monday night to share what they?re learning.

But this was no science fair or school play. Instead, it was a lesson in tolerance.

?I tell them every day to find something today to change to make tomorrow better," said Navarro 5th grade teacher, Lisa Barry.

Barry has been sharing that with students for years after deciding to teach her class to accept each others differences by teaching the story of the Holocaust- particularly, children of the Holocaust. ?Kids connect with kids,? she said.

Barry was determined to teach tolerance after experiencing the loss of a classmate who took his own life due to bullying when she was in high school.

But then Barry?s lessons became bigger than just her classroom when 8th grade La Vernia teacher Jennifer Cooper heard about it.

Cooper?s own children go to school with Barry?s children.

Coopers changed up the curriculum to meet 8th grade standards and says she?s already seen a change in her students.

"I?ve seen apologies in the classroom where they?re apologizing to each other. Kids that never speak have spoken,? Cooper said.

That?s an impact students have seen for themselves.

?They used to be very rude and mean and bully a lot of kids, and now they are way better," said 5th grader Micayla Haws of her classmates.

?People have really had their eyes opened that not everybody is like them and we have to learn to accept that because that?s just how we were made,? said 8th grader Danielle Maldonado.

On Monday night, the community gathered at La Vernia ISD?s Auditorium to hear the story of Inge Auebacher, a Holocaust survivor.

Barry?s students discovered Auebacher was a survivor after researching her in class.

She says her students were determined to find Auebacher and ask her to come speak to them. That first year, they raised the money for her trip. Every year since, her visit has been funded through a school grant.

Auebacher?s speech Monday was not just a lesson in history, but motivation for the future.

?If I can drop a pebble in the water, and each of those kids are doing that, maybe I can save somebody who might have to go through that sometime in their life,? said Barry.

As a continuation of this lesson, Barry?s class began collecting pennies in 2007 in a program called Pennies for the Persecuted.

Their goal when they set out was to collect 6 million pennies in honor of the millions of people killed during the Holocaust.

Cooper?s class is now part of effort.

So far, students have raised nearly 2 million pennies and counting. While the money has been donated to several charitable organizations, the majority goes to the Children?s Advocacy Center of Guadalupe County.

For a list of recent stories Myra Arthur has done, click here.

Source: http://www.ksat.com/news/teachers-lesson-sparks-action-community-gathering/-/478452/19946964/-/ssgos8/-/index.html

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10 Things to Know for Today

A Bangladeshi woman weeps as she sits next to the coffin of a relative who died in a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, April 28, 2013. A fire broke out late Sunday in the wreckage of the garment factory that collapsed last week in Bangladesh killing hundreds, with smoke pouring from the piles of shattered concrete and some of the rescue efforts forced to stop.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

A Bangladeshi woman weeps as she sits next to the coffin of a relative who died in a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, April 28, 2013. A fire broke out late Sunday in the wreckage of the garment factory that collapsed last week in Bangladesh killing hundreds, with smoke pouring from the piles of shattered concrete and some of the rescue efforts forced to stop.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

In this image taken from a video, an undated family photo provided by Patimat Suleimanova, the aunt of USA Boston bomb suspects, shows Anzor Tsarnaev left, Zubeidat Tsarnaev holding Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Anzor's brother Mukhammad Tsarnaev. Now known as the angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaev is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son. In another, she was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, U.S. officials said. (AP Photo/Patimat Suleimanova)

In this Saturday, April 27, 2013, photo provided by JUMP.DC, Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan dances with his bride Yvette Prieto during their wedding reception at the Bear's Club in Jupiter, Fla. The wedding took place at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea with more than 300 guests in attendance, including Tiger Woods, Patrick Ewing and Ahmad Rashad, Jordan?s manager Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press Sunday. (AP Photo/JUMP.DC, Joe Buissink) MANDATORY CREDIT

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. GIVING UP HOPE FOR MORE BANGLADESH SURVIVORS

Hydraulic cranes and heavy equipment were brought in to recover bodies from the collapse that has killed at least 380 people.

2. BOSTON SUSPECTS' MOTHER SAYS SHE'S NO TERRORIST

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva tells the AP she found a deeper spirituality, calling charges against her sons "lies and hypocrisy."

3. SYRIAN PREMIER ESCAPES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

State-run TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt when a bomb went off near his convoy in an upscale part of Damascus.

4. DETAILS OF MICHAEL JACKSON'S FINAL DAYS TO EMERGE

Opening statements begin today in the trial of the concert promoter accused of ignoring circumstances that led to the superstar's 2009 death.

5. HEARING FOR MISS. MAN IN RICIN CASE

James Everett Dutschke, arrested after charges of sending poisonous letters to the White House were dropped against a rival, was to appear in federal court.

6. WHY EDUCATORS WORRY ABOUT PRESCHOOL

A report out today says states are spending less per child for pre-k programs than they have in a decade.

7. WHO'S BEING TAPPED FOR TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY

Obama plans to nominate Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx, a rising star in the Democratic party.

8. PARISHIONERS STABBED IN CHURCH

Police say a man vaulted over pews and targeted the singers at the Albuquerque Sunday service, stabbing at least four people.

9. WHERE THE TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE IS

New York's One World Trade Center will top out at 1,776 feet today when the last pieces of its spire are installed.

10. WEDDING BELLS FOR MICHAEL JORDAN

The NBA great had fireworks and performances by Usher at his Florida wedding to ex-model Yvette Prieto.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-29-10%20Things%20to%20Know-Today/id-1eacd86f4a7846a9bd0c9c9f3b64ba5f

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Google: 10% Of Web Ads Are Never Seen - Business Insider

Unattributed

Neal Mohan, Google's VP of display.

Google has finally fixed one of advertising's worst-kept secrets: That advertisers frequently pay for web ads that have never been seen by consumers.

Up to 10% of all ads appear in positions that make it unlikely they were seen by human eyes, Google noted in a blog post on Friday. Those ads are often referred to as being "below the fold," meaning they appear so far down a web page that a user would have to scroll down to encounter them ? which most users never do. However, advertisers get charged for such ads simply because the ad impression was served, even though it may never have been seen by the target user.

Google's solution is a system called ActiveView, which will rate ads for actual viewability. It's just been endorsed by the Media Ratings Council ? meaning it becomes an industry standard of sorts. AdExchanger reports:

"Viewability is the first critical building block ? no other metric matters, from a brand's perspective, if the ad wasn't seen by an actual human being," said Neal Mohan, Google's VP of display, in an interview with AdExchanger. "Anything that we build on top of that, such as brand lift, as we announced with our Google Consumer Surveys product, follows from that first step of knowing if an ad has been viewed."

To give you an idea of just how many ads are served in positions where users are unlikely to see them, take a look at these two charts that Google's DoubleClick unit produced.

Up to 10% of ads are clicked on by users who have seen them for less than 1 second, suggesting that the clicks were accidental:

CTR = click through rate. BTF = below-the-fold.

The longer an ad is actually displayed to users, the higher the click-through rate:

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-10-of-web-ads-are-never-seen-2013-4

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Pre-K programs take biggest state funding hit ever

Pre-K study finds that states' total spending on early childhood education dropped by more than $400 per pupil for the 2011-12 school year ? and about $1,100 per pupil over a decade.

By Amanda Paulson,?Staff writer / April 29, 2013

Bryan Calvario (r.) and Jeramia Smith from the Anderson Grove Head Start program in Caledonia, Miss., ring hand bells to accompany patriotic songs at a Feb. 26 rally at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., by early childhood education supporters, who called for support of the Mississippi Pre K Collaborative Act.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP/File

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The 2011-12 school year was not a good one for pre-K funding, for enrollment, or for quality, according to a major new survey.

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States' funding overall dropped by more than half a billion dollars ? its biggest one-year drop ever. After a decade of growth, enrollment in state-funded pre-K programs stalled. State funding per child fell by more than $400; counting previous drops, state per-pupil spending decreased by more than $1,100 over the prior decade. And quality also slipped in a number of state programs.

?What was surprising was not that the recession hurt [pre-K programs], but that it hurt so much,? says Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, which released the annual ?State of Preschool? 2012 yearbook Monday. ?The one indicator that increased was inequality, because some states have continued to move ahead, while other states are moving backwards.?

The report comes at a time when early childhood education is getting more attention than ever, at least at the federal level. In his State of the Union message, President Obama highlighted the importance of quality pre-K and urged a major expansion.

?Every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can save more than seven dollars later on ? by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime,? Mr. Obama said in his speech. In his budget, he requested $75 billion over 10 years to help states dramatically expand preschool options for low-income children.

?If ever there was a report that makes the case for the need for President Obama's preschool-for-all proposal, this report is it,? said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, speaking at a release of the NIEER report on Monday.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/TeWU_i4u9cE/Pre-K-programs-take-biggest-state-funding-hit-ever

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Gunmen surround Libyan foreign ministry to push demands

By Ghaith Shennib and Jessica Donati

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen surrounded Libya's Foreign Ministry on Sunday, calling for a ban on officials who worked for deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi holding senior positions in the new administration.

Just days after the French embassy in Tripoli was bombed, the armed protest raised fresh security fears in the capital and the German embassy suspended some of its activities.

At least 20 pick-up trucks loaded with anti-aircraft guns blocked the roads while men armed with AK-47 and sniper rifles directed the traffic away from the Foreign Ministry, witnesses said.

Armed groups also tried unsuccessfully to storm the Ministry of Interior and the state news agency, according to the prime minister who called a news conference to address the problem.

"These attacks will never get us down and we will not surrender," Ali Zaidan told reporters.

"Those who think the government is frustrated are wrong. We are very strong and determined."

Since Gaddafi was toppled by Western-backed rebels in 2011, Libya has been awash with weapons and roving armed bands that are increasingly targeting state institutions.

Tensions between the government and armed militias have been rising in recent weeks since a campaign was launched to dislodge the groups from their strongholds in the capital.

Sunday's protest was to demand a law - which has already been proposed - be passed, banning Gaddafi-era officials from senior government positions. The law could force out several ministers as well as the congress leader, depending on the wording adopted.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will remain closed until the political isolation law is implemented," the commander of the militia told Reuters.

The foreign ministry had been targeted because some officials employed there had worked for Gaddafi, he said.

Libya's legislature, the General National Congress, has previously been prevented from voting on the bill, when protesters barricaded assembly members inside a building for several hours in March demanding they adopt the law.

"The country will remain in crisis so long as these people are present," assembly member Tawfiq Al-Shehabi told Reuters.

The German embassy reduced its activities, a spokesman said, after the prime minister's assertion it had stopped work at its Tripoli mission.

"The German embassy continues to operate but public access is temporarily restricted," the spokesman said, declining to say how long the measures would remain in place.

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gunmen-surround-libyan-foreign-ministry-push-demands-100133466.html

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Victoria Beckham plans UK store as juggles family and fashion

By Li-mei Hoang

LONDON (Reuters) - British fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham said life as a working mother is a struggle but she relishes the challenge and plans to expand her empire with a retail store in London.

As mother to three boys - Brooklyn, 14, Romeo, 10, and Cruz, 8 - and to 21-month-old daughter Harper, Beckham said balancing her family life and career was a constant juggle.

"The children are my priority and always have been and always will be so it's a little bit of a juggling act," she told the Vogue Festival at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.

"I really enjoy being a mum, I love my kids more than anything, but I love doing what I do as well and it's just getting the balance right which is not easy, at all."

With her second son Romeo appearing in the latest Burberry campaign and football star husband David Beckham fronting an underwear campaign for H&M, 39-year-old Beckham is busy.

But she said she was keen to build further on her success in fashion with plans to open her first retail store in London.

"This is where I want to have my first store ... I'd like to do something that is really new, really fresh. Something a little bit conceptual but not too much," she said without giving any more details.

Beckham, who made her name as pop singer Posh Spice in the 1990s British all-girl band, entered into fashion in 2004 with American denim brand Rock and Republic, co-designing jeans, skirts and knitwear before launching her own line in 2006.

As a model she has also appeared in campaigns for designers Marc Jacobs and Dolce and Gabanna.

She introduced her Victoria Beckham collection of dresses in 2008 which was well received by the fashion industry and is now a regular fixture on the New York Fashion Week circuit.

Beckham, whose designs are worn by actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Hathaway as well as singer Beyonce Knowles, said she wanted women to be empowered and confident in her clothes.

"A lot of thought goes into everything I design to make a women feel the best that she can feel," she said.

"Women are always going to feel a little bit insecure. There is a lot of pressure on women to look a certain way and I want to help women feel good about themselves."

Beckham's comments on body image came ahead of a debate on body size at the festival where models Daisy Lowe and David Gandy shared their experiences of working in fashion.

Earlier this month British Vogue magazine signed a 10-point agreement with trade union Equity to ensure that models will not work more than 10 hours a day and to ensure their working conditions in a studio or on location are healthy.

This comes as part of a wider initiative by the fashion industry to encourage a healthier approach to body image.

In February, the Council of Fashion Designers of America issued new guidelines at New York Fashion Week to stop the use of underage and underweight models from walking the runways.

"I think it's important for women to not just focus on the fantasy and the ideal, but actually what is right for themselves because everyone's bodies are different and all of them are beautiful in their own way," said Lowe.

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/victoria-beckham-plans-uk-store-juggles-family-fashion-202441886.html

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Court rejects Alabama appeal over immigration law

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court has rejected Alabama's appeal to revive portions of a state immigration law, including a section that made it a crime to harbor people who are living in the country illegally.

The justices on Monday left in place a federal appeals court ruling that blocked parts of the law. Justice Antonin Scalia voted to hear the state's appeal.

The law's purpose was to reduce the "number of illegal aliens" in Alabama

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said immigration law primarily is the responsibility of the federal government and that the state lacked the authority to enforce the challenged provisions. The appeals court ruling followed last year's Supreme Court ruling that blocked some parts of Arizona's immigration law.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-29-Supreme%20Court-Immigration/id-73fdad80ec4445f2a1e167012cefcbd2

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Homeland security chairman: FBI checking training angle in bombing

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday that the FBI is investigating in the United States and overseas to determine whether the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing received training that helped them carry out the attack.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is charged with joining with his older brother, Tamerlan, who's now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs. The bombs were triggered by a remote detonator of the kind used in remote-control toys, U.S. officials have said.

U.S. officials investigating the bombings have told The Associated Press that so far there is no evidence to date of a wider plot, including training, direction or funding for the attacks.

A criminal complaint outlining federal charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev described him as holding a cellphone in his hand minutes before the first explosion.

The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago with their parents.

"I think given the level of sophistication of this device, the fact that the pressure cooker is a signature device that goes back to Pakistan, Afghanistan, leads me to believe ? and the way they handled these devices and the tradecraft ? ... that there was a trainer and the question is where is that trainer or trainers," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on "Fox News Sunday."

"Are they overseas in the Chechen region or are they in the United States?" McCaul said. "In my conversations with the FBI, that's the big question. They've casted a wide net both overseas and in the United States to find out where this person is. But I think the experts all agree that there is someone who did train these two individuals."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he thought it's "probably true" that the attack was not linked to a major group. But, he told CNN's "State of the Union," that there "may have been radicalizing influences" in the U.S. or abroad. "It does look like a lot of radicalization was self-radicalization online, but we don't know the full answers yet."

On ABC's "This Week," moderator George Stephanopoulos raised the question to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee about FBI suspicions that the brothers had help in getting the bombs together.

"Absolutely, and not only that, but in the self-radicalization process, you still need outside affirmation," responded Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.

"We still have persons of interest that we're working to find and identify and have conversations with," he added.

At this point in the investigation, however, Sen. Claire McCaskill said there was no evidence that the brothers "were part of a larger organization, that they were, in fact, part of some kind of terror cell or any kind of direction."

The Missouri Democrat, who's on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that "it appears, at this point, based on the evidence, that it's the two of them."

Homemade bombs built from pressure cookers have been a frequent weapon of militants in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen once published an online manual on how to make one.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, officials have said. He frequently looked at extremist sites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida's Yemen affiliate.

In recent years, two would-be U.S. attackers reported receiving bomb-making training from foreign groups but failed to set off the explosives.

A Nigerian man was given a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up a packed jetliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb sewn into his underwear. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had tried to set off the bomb minutes before the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight landed.

The device didn't work as planned, but it still produced smoke, flame and panic. He told authorities that he trained in Yemen under the eye of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and one of the best-known al-Qaida figures.

A U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed al-Awlaki in 2011.

In 2010, a Pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square also received a life sentence. Faisal Shazad said the Pakistan Taliban provided him with more than $15,000 and five days of explosives training.

The bomb was made of fireworks fertilizer, propane tanks and gasoline canisters. Explosives experts said the fertilizer wasn't the right grade and the fireworks weren't powerful enough to set off the intended chain reaction.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmaker-fbi-checking-training-angle-bombing-154952300.html

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Liver Hormone Offers Hope for Diabetes Treatment

Betatrophin sparks the proliferation of pancreatic ? cells in mice, which are found in the islet of Langerhans (shown here). Image: ROBERT MARKUS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Biologists have found a hormone in the liver that spurs the growth of insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas, a discovery they hope will lead to new treatments for diabetes.

A team led by Douglas Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, identified the hormone, betatrophin, by inducing insulin resistance in mice using a peptide that binds to insulin receptors. That caused the animals' insulin-secreting pancreatic ? cells to proliferate. The researchers then searched for genes that showed increased activity, zeroing in on one that they were able to link to betatrophin production.?

Further experiments showed that 8-week-old mice injected with betatrophin showed an average 17-fold rise in the replication of their insulin-secreting pancreatic ? cells, the researchers report in Cell. Betatrophin is also found in the human liver, the team says.

?It?s rare that one discovers a new hormone, and this one is interesting because it?s so specific,? says Melton. ?It works only on ? cells?and it?s so robust and so potent.?

Pancreatic ? cells replicate rapidly during embryonic and neonatal stages in both mice and humans, but their growth falls off dramatically in adults. A decrease in the function of the cells late in life is the main cause of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic disorder that affects more than 300 million people worldwide. In the United States alone, the two forms of diabetes ? type 2 and type 1, which is caused by an autoimmune attack on pancreatic ? cells ? account for US$176 billion in direct medical costs each year.

Treatment hope
Melton thinks that injections of betatrophin once a month, or perhaps even once a year, could induce enough activity in pancreatic ? cells to provide the same level of blood-sugar regulation for people with type 2 diabetes as daily insulin injections do. But more importantly, he adds, they would cause fewer complications because the body would be making its own insulin. He also hopes that betatrophin will be able to help people with type 1 diabetes.

Matthias Hebrok, director of the University of California, San Francisco, Diabetes Center, says that the work ?is a great advance?. ?The findings are very interesting,? he says, although he would like to see the experiments repeated in older mice. ?Do mice that are on their way to becoming diabetic at an advanced age truly have an increase in proliferative capacity upon treatment with betatrophin?? he asks.

Henrik Semb, managing director of the Danish Stem Cell Center in Copenhagen, says that "the identification of a factor, betatrophin, that stimulates mouse ?-cell replication with remarkable efficiency is a very important discovery, because it provides the starting point for further studies to elucidate the underlying mechanism of ?-cell replication."

?-cell replication has proved difficult to control in humans.

Producing enough betatrophin for testing in human clinical trials will take about two years, according to Melton, who is also working to identify the hormone?s receptor and its mechanism of action.

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on April 25, 2012.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=4cda9205b5c09098b68b1c9a99977a43

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Fire breaks out at collapsed factory in Bangladesh

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) -- A fire broke out late Sunday in the wreckage of the garment factory that collapsed last week in Bangladesh, with smoke pouring from the piles of shattered concrete and some of the rescue efforts forced to stop.

The fire came four days after the collapse, as rescuers were trying to free a woman they found trapped in the rubble. The flames broke out when sparks were generated by those rescuers trying to cut through a steel rod to reach the woman, said a volunteer rescuer, Syed Al-Amin Roman. At least three rescue workers were injured in the fire, he said.

Rescuers have retreated from the part of the wreckage where the fire erupted, but were still trying to reach any possible survivors in other parts of the destroyed eight-story building.

Firefighters were frantically hosing down the flames.

"Hopefully we will be able to control it," said Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing rescue operations.

It wasn't immediately clear what happened to the trapped woman.

The fire came hours after the owner of the illegally-constructed building was captured Sunday at a border crossing with India.

Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested in Benapole in western Bangladesh, just as he was about to flee into India's West Bengal state, said Jahangir Kabir Nanak, junior minister for local government. Rana was brought back by helicopter to the capital Dhaka where he faced charges of negligence.

Rana's capture brought cheers and applause when it was announced on a loudspeaker at the site of the collapsed building in the Dhaka suburb of Savar.

At least 377 people are confirmed to have died in the Wednesday collapse. Three of the building's floors were built illegally. The death toll is expected to rise but it is already the deadliest tragedy to hit Bangladesh's garment industry, which is worth $20 billion annually and is a mainstay of the economy. The collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

Bangladesh's garment industry was the third largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade. The country's minimum wage is the equivalent of about $38 a month.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fire-breaks-collapsed-factory-bangladesh-165955376.html

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Sudanese protesters stone government convoy after rebel attack

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Residents of a provincial Sudanese city set government offices on fire and threw rocks at local officials on Sunday, accusing them of failing to protect them from a rebel attack the day before, witnesses said.

Insurgents from Sudan's Darfur region stormed Um Rawaba in North Kordofan state on Saturday, witnesses said. State media said late in the evening authorities had regained control of the city, located some 500 km (300 miles) from Khartoum.

On Sunday, 300 people gathered in the city center to protest at a visit by North Kordofan Governor Mutassim Mirghani Zaki Uddi to inspect damage from the fighting in the state's second-largest city.

An angry crowd set several government buildings on fire and threw stones at the cars of the governor and his entourage, three witnesses told Reuters.

"We don't want you here - where were you yesterday?" the crowd chanted, according to witnesses. Uddi's motorcade left without any reports of injury or serious damage. There was no immediate police comment.

The attack marked a major thrust by a rebel alliance that is seeking to topple President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Fighting had hitherto been limited mainly to Darfur and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, which border South Sudan.

Local newspapers showed what they said were pictures taken during the rebel attack. Several burning buildings could be seen as well as the body of a person on the ground, according to the daily al-Intibaha.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the biggest Darfur rebel groups, denied it had looted or destroyed any property in Um Rawaba.

The group was one of two main rebel forces that took up arms against the government in 2003, demanding better representation for Darfur and accusing Khartoum of neglecting its development.

In 2011, JEM teamed up with two other Darfuri groups and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) which took up arms in South Kordofan and Blue Nile around the time of South Sudan's secession, breaking up Africa's largest country.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudanese-protesters-stone-government-convoy-rebel-attack-143642468.html

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President says Libya harbors Chadian mercenaries

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's President Idriss Deby on Saturday that Chadian mercenaries had set up a training camp in neighboring Libya from where they could seek to destabilize his country, an accusation Libyan authorities denied.

Deby said during a radio interview that the mercenaries were free to roam around the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of the Chadian border.

"I do not want the new Libya to serve as the source of any plot to destabilize Chad," Deby said. "I am asking Libyan authorities to take steps to ensure that Chad does not fall prey to another Libyan misadventure."

But Saleh Gaouda, deputy president of the National Security Committee in Libya's General National Congress who also represents Benghazi, denied any such camps existed.

"Libya ... does not permit military camps where foreigners can find shelter, and will not interfere in the internal politics of our neighbors," Saleh said.

"As a deputy for the city of Benghazi, I can say categorically that there are no such camps in the city."

Chad has had rocky relations with its northern neighbor, going to war with Libya in the 1970s and 1980s when former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi tried to seize the Aouzou Strip.

Ties improved after Deby, backed by Gaddafi, seized power in a 1990 military coup. Deby condemned NATO strikes against Gaddafi and was one of the last leaders in region to recognize the new Libyan authorities.

The former French colony of Chad, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been hit by humanitarian crises over the last decade exacerbated by rebellions in the east and south, drought in the arid Sahel region, and flooding.

In March, the Chadian rebel coalition UFR, who lay down their weapons in 2010, warned that they would take up arms again against Deby after he failed to enter talks with them after they agreed to stop fighting.

Chad has sent some 2,000 soldiers to fight alongside French troops to drive Islamists from remote northern towns, mountains and deserts regions of northern Mali.

(Reporting by Madjiasra Nako in N'Djamena and Ghaith Shennib in Benghazi; Writing by Bate Felix; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/president-says-libya-harbors-chadian-mercenaries-162528582.html

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For Women Trying to Conceive, Fertility Yoga

Apr 26, 2013 7:00am

Yoga has long been praised for helping people improve their flexibility and core strength. But one Florida yoga instructor believes that the popular practice can also be used to help women conceive.

Sherry Longbottom, a registered nurse and yoga instructor, has developed fertility yoga.? In her classes she is careful to avoid yoga poses that could strain the body; instead, she favors simple gentle poses that help lessen anxiety.

?Our goal is to get blood flow in the pelvic area,? said Longbottom. ?I?m very excited to be helping these women, it?s so rewarding?

While practicing fertility yoga is not exactly as beneficial as in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments or hormone therapy, Longbottom said yoga can help women trying to conceive by helping them take a moment to relax and calm down.

?We live in fight or flight mode,? said Longbottom. ?That kind of life goes completely against what we?re trying to look for in creating a fertile environment.?

Many of the women attending Longbottom?s class started after they were recommended by the Reproductive Medicine Group in Tampa, Fla., to help them cope. ?She estimates about half of the attendees are receiving some kind of fertility treatment.

?[Yoga] still can?t correct a tubal issue or necessarily correct an egg issue,? Dr. Betsy McCormick of the Reproductive Medicine Group told ABCNews.com affiliate WFTS-TV. ?But what they can do is help someone get through that process.?

Dr. James Goldfarb, the director of infertility and in-vitro fertilization at University Hospital Cleveland, said he approves of patients trying safe alternative therapies such as yoga or acupuncture as long as the patient feels better after a session.

?The bottom line I always tell patients is, it certainly can?t hurt,? said Goldfarb. ?We?re very encouraging [that they] try whatever they find relief through.?

While fertility treatments such as IVF have helped millions of women conceive, Goldfarb said these women often have a tremendous amount of anxiety at the same time.

?To say someone is going through IVF is going to be stressed is like saying someone is going to hit their thumb with their hammer and it?s going to hurt,? said Goldfarb. ?It?s incredibly stressful.?

Longbottom said that the ability of yoga to help with a person?s mental health in addition to their physical health was one reason she wanted to start the fertility yoga class.

?Mind, body and spirit are all tied together; once you address those areas, you?re taking care of your whole body,? said Longbottom.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/04/26/for-women-trying-to-conceive-fertility-yoga/

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Rumored low-spec Samsung Galaxy Core has 4.3-inch display, vague hints of GS4 styling (update: dual SIM)

Samsung has a thing for releasing budget chasers soon after the main shot. There have already been strong hints of a GS4 Mini to capitalize on the flagship's buzz and now a purported leak over at hi-tech@mail.ru suggests another, even more cut-down model could be on its way, this time called the Galaxy Core. According to the Russian site -- which has some pedigree -- the Core has a 4.3-inch display with an 800 x 480 resolution, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 768MB RAM, 8GB of internal storage (plus microSD), a 5MP rear camera, 1,800mAh battery and likely Android 4.1-flavored TouchWiz. In other words, it could be very similar to the Galaxy S II Plus or the slightly smaller Galaxy S III Mini or the slightly bigger China-destined Galaxy Win -- so similar, in fact, that it leaves us largely indifferent. The rumored price of 14,000 rubles ($430) also seems way overboard -- although Russian prices often do.

Update: As a number of you spotted, this phone has another differentiating spec. It turns out dvuhsimochny means dual SIM, which makes complete sense when you say it out loud.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

Via: AndroidBeat

Source: Hi.tech@mail.ru (Russian)

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

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Sea surface temperatures reach highest level in 150 years on Northeast continental shelf

Apr. 26, 2013 ? Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). These high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are the latest in a trend of above average temperature seen during the spring and summer seasons, and part of a pattern of elevated temperatures occurring in the Northwest Atlantic, but not seen elsewhere in the ocean basin over the past century.

The advisory reports on conditions in the second half of 2012.

Sea surface temperature for the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem reached a record high of 14 degrees Celsius (57.2?F) in 2012, exceeding the previous record high in 1951. Average SST has typically been lower than 12.4 C (54.3 F) over the past three decades.

Sea surface temperature in the region is based on both contemporary satellite remote-sensing data and long-term ship-board measurements, with historical SST conditions based on ship-board measurements dating back to 1854. The temperature increase in 2012 was the highest jump in temperature seen in the time series and one of only five times temperature has changed by more than 1 C (1.8 F).

The Northeast Shelf's warm water thermal habitat was also at a record high level during 2012, while cold water habitat was at a record low level. Early winter mixing of the water column went to extreme depths, which will impact the spring 2013 plankton bloom. Mixing redistributes nutrients and affects stratification of the water column as the bloom develops.

Temperature is also affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf. The advisory provides data on changes in distribution, or shifts in the center of the population, of seven key fishery species over time. The four southern species -- black sea bass, summer flounder, longfin squid and butterfish -- all showed a northeastward or upshelf shift. American lobster has shifted upshelf over time but at a slower rate than the southern species. Atlantic cod and haddock have shifted downshelf."

"Many factors are involved in these shifts, including temperature, population size, and the distributions of both prey and predators," said Jon Hare, a scientist in the NEFSC's Oceanography Branch. A number of recent studies have documented changing distributions of fish and shellfish, further supporting NEFSC work reported in 2009 that found about half of the 36 fish stocks studied in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the past four decades.

The Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) extends from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The NEFSC has monitored this ecosystem with comprehensive sampling programs since1977. Prior to 1977, this ecosystem was monitored by the NEFSC through a series of separate, coordinated programs dating back decades.

Warming conditions on the Northeast Shelf in the spring of 2012 continued into September, with the most consistent warming conditions seen in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. Temperatures cooled by October and were below average in the Middle Atlantic Bight in November, perhaps due to Superstorm Sandy, but had returned to above average conditions by December.

"Changes in ocean temperatures and the timing and strength of spring and fall plankton blooms could affect the biological clocks of many marine species, which spawn at specific times of the year based on environmental cues like water temperature," Kevin Friedland, a scientist in the NEFSC Ecosystem Assessment Program, said. He noted that the contrast between years with, and without, a fall bloom is emerging as an important driver of the shelf's ecology. "The size of the spring plankton bloom was so large that the annual chlorophyll concentration remained high in 2012 despite low fall activity. These changes will have a profound impact throughout the ecosystem."

Michael Fogarty, who heads the Ecosystem Assessment Program, says the abundance of fish and shellfish is controlled by a complex set of factors, and that increasing temperatures in the ecosystem make it essential to monitor the distribution of many species, some of them migratory and others not.

"It isn't always easy to understand the big picture when you are looking at one specific part of it at one specific point in time," Fogarty said, a comparison similar to not seeing the forest when looking at a single tree in it. "We now have information on the ecosystem from a variety of sources collected over a long period of time, and are adding more data to clarify specific details. The data clearly show a relationship between all of these factors."

"What these latest findings mean for the Northeast Shelf ecosystem and its marine life is unknown," Fogarty said. "What is known is that the ecosystem is changing, and we need to continue monitoring and adapting to these changes."

Ecosystem advisories have been issued twice a year by the NEFSC's Ecosystem Assessment Program since 2006 as a way to routinely summarize overall conditions in the region. The reports show the effects of changing coastal and ocean temperatures on fisheries from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border. The advisories provide a snapshot of the ecosystem for the fishery management councils and also a broad range of stakeholders from fishermen to researchers.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/OO7wc-3mfWU/130426115614.htm

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African diva Angelique Kidjo wins Songlines Best Artist award

By Angus MacSwan

LONDON (Reuters) - African diva Angelique Kidjo was named Best Artist in Songlines magazine's annual world music awards on Friday, lauded for her high-energy shows and her championing of social causes.

French veterans Lo'jo, who mix French folk with African and Arabic sounds, picked up the Best Group award and the young Zimbabwean band Mokoomba was chosen as top Newcomer.

The Best Cross Cultural-Collaboration went to Dub Colossus for the blend of Ethiopian roots, reggae and dub beats on their latest album "Dub Me Tender Vol. 1+2".

Kidjo, originally from Benin, is one of Africa's biggest singing stars. Over the years she has worked with Prince, sang at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and sold out New York's Carnegie Hall.

The Best Artist award was given for her live "Spirit Rising" album but was also recognition of her career achievements, Songlines editor-in-chief Simon Broughton told Reuters.

"She's been around a long time but she's always inspiring," he said. "What clinched it was a concert she gave in London in March for Women's Day. It was breathtaking. I've never seen her so exuberant. She bonds people and really makes it special."

Kidjo, 52, has adopted the mantle of the late South African singer Miriam Makeba as a political voice and campaigns for women's rights and education in Africa.

"The award is also for what she stands for," Broughton said.

Lo'jo, from southwest France, has also been around a long time and the band's latest album, "Cinema el Mundo", showed them to be as strong as ever.

"They are much better known in the Francophone world than elsewhere. They've not been tempted to become more mainstream," Broughton said.

"They are a quality act, an unusual, interesting group, especially in their connections with West and North Africa."

YOUNG BANDS AND FANS

The Newcomer winner, Mokoomba, is a young group from Zimbabwe but the horn-driven music is pan-African, bringing in the sounds of Congo, South Africa and other countries. Its "Rising Tide" album sealed the award.

Dub Colossus' award was recognition of its work over the past 10 years in popularizing Ethiopian music and blending it with modern beats.

"It's risen from being unknown to something hip and really getting an audience. There's a lot of people fusing Ethiopian and Western sounds so they represent a wide movement and are bringing in a lot of young people," Broughton said.

World music has had mixed fortunes in the past year.

The live scene was still healthy, with a host of performers filling venues in London and elsewhere, Songlines publisher Paul Geoghegan said.

But the recording scene was very difficult for artists, record labels and distributors due to the closure of record stores and declining CD sales. The collapse of British chain HMV, whose shops stocked a wide variety of world music, was a big blow, he said.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-diva-angelique-kidjo-wins-songlines-best-artist-002744039.html

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Ecology buys time for evolution: Climate change disrupts songbird's timing without impacting population size (yet)

Apr. 25, 2013 ? Songbird populations can handle far more disrupting climate change than expected. Density-dependent processes are buying them time for their battle. But without (slow) evolutionary rescue it will not save them in the end, says an international team of scientists led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in Science this week.

Yes, spring started late this year in North-western Europe. But the general trend of the four last decades is still a rapidly advancing spring. The seasonal timing of trees and insects advance too, but songbirds like Parus major, or the great tit, lag behind. Yet without an accompanying decline in population numbers, it seems, as the international research team shows for the great tit population in the Dutch National Park the Hoge Veluwe.

"It's a real paradox," explain Dr Tom Reed and Prof Marcel Visser of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. "Due to the changing climate of the past decades the egg laying dates of Parus major have become increasingly mismatched with the timing of the main food source for its chicks: caterpillars. The seasonal timing of the food peak has advanced over twice as fast as that of the birds and the reproductive output is reduced. Still, the population numbers do not go down." On the short term, that is, as Reed, Visser and colleagues from Norway, the USA, and France have now calculated using almost 40 years of data from this songbird.

The solution to the paradox is that although fewer offspring now fledge due to food shortage, each of these chicks has a higher chance of survival until the next breeding season. "We call this relaxed competition, as there are fewer fledglings to compete with," first author Reed points out. Out of 10 eggs laid, 9 chicks are born, 7 fledge and on average only one chick survives winter. That last number increases with less competitors around.

This is the first time that density dependence -- a widespread phenomenon in nature -- and ecological mismatch are linked, and it is a real eye-opener. Reed: "It all seems so obvious once you've calculated this, but people were almost sure that mistiming would lead to a direct population decline."

The great tits that lay eggs earlier in spring are more successful nowadays than late birds, which produce relatively few surviving offspring. This leads to increasing selection for birds to reproduce early. But the total number of birds in the new generation stays the same. "That is the second paradox," the researchers state. "Why are population numbers hardly affected, despite the stronger selection on timing caused by the mismatch? The answer is that for selection it matters which birds survive, while for population size it only matters how many survive. Visser: "The mortality in one group can be compensated for by the success in another. But this stretching, this flexibility, is not unlimited."

The mismatch between egg laying period and caterpillar peak in the woods will keep growing, and so will the impact following the temporary rescue, as long as spring temperatures continue to increase. "The density dependence is only buying the birds time, hopefully for evolutionary adaptation to dig in before population numbers are substantially affected," according to Visser. The new findings can help to predict the impact of future environmental change on other wild populations and to identify relevant measures to take. Even rubber bands stretch only so far before they break.

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3M cuts 2013 outlook on falling electronics demand

By Ernest Scheyder

(Reuters) - Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co cut its 2013 profit forecast on Thursday, citing weakening demand for flat-panel televisions as well as the stronger U.S. dollar.

The lowered outlook came after first-quarter profit and revenue both missed Wall Street expectations.

3M, which makes a range of products from Post-It notes to Scotch tape, blamed falling sales in its consumer electronics segment, which makes films used to make flat-panel TV displays.

Prices for those TVs, as well as the amount of televisions sold, have fallen recently as consumers move toward touch-screen devices. Global demand for TVs is expected to plateau this year as many consumers in developed countries already own a flat-screen TV.

TV manufacturers Sony Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd are among 3M's largest customers. Both are paring their TV units.

3M executives had expected weak demand for TV parts and other electronic materials, including insulation and fluids used to make computer chips, but they said actual sales were worse than feared.

"We expected a challenging start to the year, but in fact market conditions were tougher than we had expected," Chief Executive Inge Thulin said on a conference call with investors.

The machines 3M uses to make the TV films are complex and expensive, and the trick for the company will be to find even more ways to use the machines for touchscreen products, William Blair & Co analyst Nick Heymann said.

Already, Apple Inc is a key 3M customer.

"You just have too much capacity" in the TV market, Heymann said. "3M is working through it. Now, they've got to move to the next market."

While a 56 percent drop in pension payments boosted first-quarter margins, analysts were wary because higher sales failed to contribute more to the margin strength.

3M now expects to earn $6.60 to $6.85 per share this year, a range mostly below the $6.82 average analyst estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

3M previously had expected to earn $6.70 to $6.95 per share this year.

Also, the rising value of the U.S. dollar compared with other global currencies harmed results, executives said. Previously, the company had not expected foreign currency changes to harm 2013 results, but now it was seen cutting revenue by 1.5 percent.

3M shares were down 2.4 percent at $105.33 late on Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has gained about 16 percent this year, outpacing the Dow Jones industrial average's rise of roughly 12 percent.

REVENUE RISES

St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M posted first-quarter profit of $1.13 billion, or $1.61 per share, compared with $1.13 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the year-earlier period.

Profit per share missed analysts' estimates of $1.65. The number of outstanding shares fell, boosting the most recent earnings per share.

Revenue rose 2 percent to $7.63 billion, missing the $7.81 billion estimate from analysts.

Thulin, who took the top job last year, began a restructuring in January. He merged 3M's security and traffic-safety units, eliminating about 300 jobs, and identified other units that 3M would need to fix, sell or close.

Thulin has said 3M needs to prune its broad portfolio of products, and is likely to focus on fewer but larger takeovers.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in New York; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Maureen Bavdek, Jeffrey Benkoe and Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3m-quarterly-profit-slightly-2013-outlook-cut-115703087--sector.html

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US man detained in Venezuelan post-vote crackdown

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? A 35-year-old filmmaker from California has been arrested by Venezuelan authorities who are accusing him of fomenting postelection violence on behalf of the U.S. government.

President Nicolas Maduro said Thursday that he personally ordered Timothy Tracy's arrest on suspicion of "creating violence in the cities of this country." Venezuela's interior minister said Tracy was working for U.S. intelligence, paying right-wing youth groups to hold violent demonstrations in order to destabilize the country after Maduro's narrow election win last week.

Friends and family of Tracy told The Associated Press that he had been in Venezuela since last year making a documentary about the country, which is bitterly divided politically as the socialist heirs of the late President Hugo Chavez struggle to maintain control of a country beset by economic and political turmoil

The Georgetown University English graduate was a story consultant on the 2009 documentary "American Harmony," about competitive barbershop quartet singing, and produced the recent Discovery Channel program "Under Siege," about terrorism and smuggling across the U.S./Canada border.

"They don't have CIA in custody. They don't have a journalist in custody. They have a kid with a camera," said Aengus James, a friend and associate of Tracy's in Hollywood, California, and director of "American Harmony." ''He does not really know what he's doing."

James described Tracy as "fearless" but also somewhat quixotic.

"This whole thing came about with him at a party in South Florida," he said. "He met this cute girl who says, 'If you really are a documentary filmmaker you'll come tell the story of what is happening in Venezuela,' and if you say something like that to Tim he goes, whether or not he knows a single person there or knows anything about the political situation or the consequences."

Tracy had been detained at least twice before by Venezuela's SEBIN intelligence police. The last time was five days before the April 14 presidential election when he was taking video of a pro-government rally in the port city of Puerto Cabello, said an associate who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to endanger people inside Venezuela.

The U.S. Embassy in Caracas declined immediate comment, citing citizen privacy.

Prosecutors said Tracy was arrested Wednesday evening as he tried to fly out of Simon Bolivar International Airport outside the capital, Caracas.

Tracy's father Emmet, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, said that in his last email his son had asked for some airline miles so he could fly to the United States so they could be together for the father's 80th birthday.

The prosecution said he would be brought to a court hearing Thursday to be formally charged under Venezuela's anti-terrorism laws.

The police had been friendly to Tracy during the previous incidents, with some even agreeing to appear in his documentary, the filmmaker's father said. Emmet Tracy said, however, that the family had begun urging his son to leave the country in light of the volatile political situation.

"Frankly it's the kind of scenario that we were concerned about and kept telling him," Emmet Tracy said.

Tensions in the country have been rising since Maduro beat opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in the April 14 election by less than 2 percentage points. The government insists the opposition fomented violence directed at ruling party supporters and official buildings in the days after the election. The opposition is demanding an audit of the vote, which it says was stolen.

Venezuela's government has long accused the United States of trying to undermine it, moving closer to Cuba, Iran and Russia after a failed 2002 coup attempt against Chavez that the George W. Bush administration initially recognized.

Tracy is the first American in recent memory to be detained in Venezuela on politically related charges, however.

"I gave the order that they detain him immediately, hand him to prosecutors with the proof that there is because nobody can be destabilizing this country, whatever they believe, because they're on the side of the bourgeoisie, no," Maduro said.

James said Tracy's Spanish is passable but not great.

He said Tracy "literally has no political agenda. He is very sympathetic to all sides. He's telling stories about people and what their life is like there."

"He has been involved in telling stories that told that international component. But he certainly never worked for the government," said James.

"He's trying to tell a human story," said James. "My fear is that he's gone in deeper than he should have."

__

Bajak contributed from Lima, Peru.

__

Frank Bajak on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fbajak

Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mweissenstein

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-man-detained-venezuelan-post-vote-crackdown-202455776.html

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Boston suspect is moved; FBI searches landfill

BOSTON (AP) ? Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhohkar Tsarnaev was moved from a hospital to a federal prison medical center, while FBI agents searched for evidence Friday in a landfill near the college he was attending.

Tsarnaev, 19, was taken from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he was recovering from a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during a getaway attempt, and transferred to the Federal Medical Center Devens, about 40 miles from Boston, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The facility at a former Army base treats federal prisoners.

Also, FBI agents picked through a landfill near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where Tsarnaev was a sophomore. FBI spokesman Jim Martin would not say what investigators were looking for.

An aerial photo in Friday's Boston Globe showed a line of more than 20 investigators, all dressed in white overalls and yellow boots, picking over the garbage with shovels or rakes.

U.S. officials, meanwhile, said that the bombing suspects' mother had been added to a federal terrorism database about 18 months before the deadly attack ? a disclosure that deepens the mystery around the Tsarnaev family and marks the first time American authorities have acknowledged that Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was under investigation before the tragedy.

The news is certain to fuel questions about whether the Obama administration missed opportunities to thwart the April 15 bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260.

Tsarnaev is charged with joining with his older brother, now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs. The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago with their parents. Investigators have said it appears that the brothers were angry about the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Two government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, said the CIA had Zubeidat Tsarnaeva's name added to the terror database along with that of her son Tamerlan Tsarnaev after Russia contacted the agency in 2011 with concerns that the two were religious militants.

About six months earlier, the FBI investigated mother and son, also at Russia's request, one of the officials said. The FBI found no ties to terrorism. Previously U.S. officials had said only that the FBI investigated Tamerlan.

In an interview from Russia, Tsarnaeva said Friday that she has never been linked to terrorism.

"It's all lies and hypocrisy," she told The Associated Press from Dagestan. "I'm sick and tired of all this nonsense that they make up about me and my children. People know me as a regular person, and I've never been mixed up in any criminal intentions, especially any linked to terrorism."

Tsarnaeva faces shoplifting charges in the U.S. over the alleged theft of more than $1,624 worth of women's clothing from a Lord & Taylor department store in Natick, Mass., in 2012.

Earlier this week, she said she has been assured by lawyers that she would not be arrested if she traveled to the U.S., but she said she was still deciding whether to go. The suspects' father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said that he would leave Russia soon for the United States to visit one son and lay the other to rest.

A team of investigators from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has questioned both parents in Russia this week, spending many hours with the mother in particular over two days.

Meanwhile, New York's police commissioner said the FBI was too slow to inform the city that the Boston Marathon suspects had been planning to bomb Times Square days after the attack at the race.

Federal investigators learned about the short-lived scheme from a hospitalized Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during a bedside interrogation that began Sunday night and extended into Monday morning, officials said. The information didn't reach the New York Police Department until Wednesday night.

"We did express our concerns over the lag," Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the findings on Thursday.

The FBI had no comment Friday.

___

Eileen Sullivan reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Colleen Long in New York and Julie Pace in Washington contributed to this story.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-suspect-moved-fbi-searches-landfill-191408451.html

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Artists demand cancellation of anti-immigrant TV show Border Security

By:?Obert Madondo?|?The Canadian Progressive:?

Over 100?actors, directors, producers, directors, technicians?and other cultural professionals?have signed an open letter demanding the immediate cancellation of anti-immigrant TV series?Border Security. The letter is addressed to National Geographic,?Force Four Entertainment, Shaw Media, Global BC, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), ?and all other producers, financiers, and broadcasters of Border Security?.

The signatories include award-winning author Naomi Klein.

The letter is part of a protest that started in March after a?reality TV?crew filmed a CBSA raid on a Vancouver construction site, and detention of allegedly undocumented immigrants.?Canada?s Public Safety Minister?Vic Toews?personally approved the raid.

In March, the?BC Civil Liberties Association?filed a formal complaint with the federal Privacy Commissioner, arguing that the filming was illegal and violated the immigrants? rights under the federal Privacy Act.

More than 23 000 people have signed a petition calling on?National Geographic Channel, Force Four Entertainment and Shaw Media to cancel Border Security. ?Amnesty International,?LeadNow, the?Council of Canadians, Vancouver?Mayor?Gregor Robertson, NDP and Liberal?MP?s?and NDP?MLA?s?have also spoken out against the show. According to?http://www.cancelbordersecurity.ca/

The letter:

To Force Four Entertainment, Shaw Media, Global BC, National Geographic, Canadian Border Services Agency, and all other producers, financiers, and broadcasters of Border Security: Canada?s Front Line,

We are?actors, performers, producers, directors, technicians?and a wide variety of?cultural professionals?who work across media platforms that include?film, TV, and live performance.

On March 13, 2013 a film crew from Vancouver-based company Force Four Entertainment was embedded with Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) agents during a raid at a construction site. They filmed eight workers being arrested and jailed in a humiliating spectacle. The footage was shot as part of an ongoing television series Border Security: Canada?s Front Line.

Several of the men arrested have since been deported, and their families have been torn apart.

We write this letter out of?serious concern for those already affected and those who may be harmed?by future episodes of this show. Border Security makes no effort to show the lived realities or perspectives of those featured in the show. Rather, it packages and sells entertainment made from genuine human crisis and humiliation, particularly of those who are vulnerable migrants and refugees. This show is based on sensationalizing their stories and spreading fear.

At best, this TV show is an invasion of privacy with questionable ethics on informed consent.?At worst, it can put the lives of vulnerable migrants and their families at risk by commercially exploiting their stories for broadcast.?As Amnesty International notes, ?Amnesty International believes that filming and broadcasting these raids has jeopardized the basic rights of these undocumented workers, as protected under the international conventions that Canada has ratified.?

This comes at a time when there is little quality television that deals with the real-life pressures that force people to migrate. We also find it extremely troubling that the federal government has approved of and dedicates resources to this production. This is not the Canadian entertainment or cultural production that so many are proud to call their own.

We are calling on Force Four, CBSA, Shaw Media, and Global TV to end production of Border Security, and all associated partners to withdraw their support for the show. Deportation is not entertainment. We seek to uphold legally-affirmed human rights and respect for basic human dignity.??Please join us in our efforts towards being conscious and ethical cultural producers.

Sincerely,

Khalilah Alwani, Performance Artist
Annie Banks, Artist and Cultural Producer
Samuel Pruneau Beaudry, Composer and Performance Artist
Hauke Boettcher,? Filmmaker and Editor
Sam Bradd, Artist and Cultural Producer

Diego Brice?o, Independent Media Producer

Zain Burgess, Multimedia Artist
Angelina L. Cantada, Curly Tail Pictures

Nicola Cavendish, Actor and Playwright
Patricia Chica, Filmmaker and TV Content Producer
St?fanie Clermont, Documentary Filmmaker
Martina Comstock, Writer and Director
Andrea Curtis, Producer
Amber Dawn, Film Festival Programmer and Author
Deborah de Boer, Writer and Curator
Ruby Smith D?az, Filmmaker
Farzana Doctor, Coproducer and Author
Jadis Dumas, Documentary Filmmaker
David Emanuel, Actor and Director
Jesse Freeston, Independent Filmmaker and Journalist
Julien Fr?chette, Director
David-James Fernandes, Filmmaker

David William Murray Fisher, Actor, Writer

Amy Fox, Producer, Trembling Void Studios

Richard Fung, Video artist and Filmmaker
Damien Gillis, Documentary Filmmaker
Gordon Grdina, Musician and Composer
Malcolm Guy, Director and Producer
Deblekha Guin, Project Manager and Film Producer
Freda Guttman, Multimedia Artist
Callista Haggis, Documentary filmmaker
Christopher Heffley, Creative Director
Glenn Hodgins, Filmmaker
Audrey Huntley, Independent Documentary Filmmaker
Troy Jackson, Singer and Producer

Reg Johanson, Poet

Rosina Kazi, Singer and Producer
Ali Kazimi, Filmmaker
Sara Kendall, Performance Artist and Filmmaker
Noura Kevorkian, Filmmaker
Arshad Khan, Filmmaker

Sarah Khan, Professional Writer,?Women, Action, & the Media (WAM!) Vancouver

David Khang, Artist and Art Educator
Margo Kidder, Actor

Lois Klassen, Artist and Research Ethics Professional

Bonnie Klein, O.C. (Order of Canada), Filmmaker
Naomi Klein, Filmmaker and Writer
Erica K?hn, Artistic Director and Filmmaker
Zoe Kreye, Artist and Professor

Min Sook Lee, Filmmaker
Diana Leung, Filmmaker and Cultural Planner
Avi Lewis, Documentary Filmmaker and TV Host
Franklin L?pez, Media Saboteur
Jessica MacCormack, Artist and Professor
Laurie MacMillan, Documentary Filmmaker
Alex Mah, Filmmaker
David Maidman, Community Television producer
Marc-Andr? Manseau, Producer and Director
Richard Marcuse, former Western Representative for Canadian Actors Equity Association
Claudia Medina, Filmmaker

Lindsay Miles, Facilitator and Writer
Amy Miller, Director and Producer
Elizabeth Miller, Documentary Filmmaker & Professor

Yvette Narlock, Soundscape Design/Music Producer for Film and Television

Jan Nathanson, Producer
Cecily Nicholson, Artist and Arts Administrator
Isaac Oomen, Filmmaker and Journalist
Christina Panis, Arts Administrator

Shauna Paull, Poet and Teacher
Nicholas Perrin, Writer and Artist
Summer Pervez, Filmmaker and Professor
Helgi Piccinin, Documentary Filmmaker
Imtiaz Popat, Producer, Monkeyking Motion Pictures
Ian Iqbal Rashid, Independent Filmmaker
Rhona Raskin, Production Company Owner and Radio Producer
Vanessa Richards, Artist and Cultural Worker
Velcrow Ripper, Filmmaker
Ally Robertson, Multimedia Artist
Emilio Rojas, Filmmaker and Performance Artist

Javier Romero, Editor and Cultural promoter
Tom Sandborn, Writer
Igor Santizo, Artist and Teacher

Regine Schmid, Producer
John Sharkey, Videographer and Programmer
Rupinder Singh Sidhu, Composer and Producer
Adrian A. Stimson, Curator and a former Canadian Immigration Officer
Jordan Strom, Visual Art Curator

Sid Tan, Media Producer
Jeremy Todd, Interdisciplinary Artist and Educator
Genevi?ve Trudel, Art Historian
Kim Villagante, Multimedia Artist and Singer-Songwriter
Mark Vonesch, Director of Reel Youth
Tamara Vukov, Filmmaker and Educator
Harsha Walia, Independent Filmmaker and Writer
Shannon Walsh, Director and Writer
Maggie Wheeler, Actor
D Lee Williams, Filmmaker and Artist
Sandy Wilson, Film Director and Screenwriter
Rita Wong, Writer

Don Xaliman, Technical Director
b.h Yael, Filmmaker and Professor
Marcus Youssef, Actor and Playwright
Alejandro Zuluaga, Documentary Filmmaker

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Source: http://www.canadianprogressiveworld.com/2013/04/21/artists-demand-cancellation-of-anti-immigrant-tv-show-border-security/

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