White House Correspondents' Dinner Video 2013: Obama, Celebrities Gather For Annual Event

Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, from left, Michael Scherer, White House correspondent for TIME, late-night television host Conan O'Brien and first lady Michelle Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

US-POLITICS-ENTERTAINMENT-WHCA-DINNER

Comedian Conan O'Brien (L) smiles as US President Barack Obama (C) and US first lady Michelle Obama arrive for the White House Correspondents? Association Dinner April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama attended the yearly dinner which is attended by journalists, celebrities and politicians. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Barack Obama

President Barack Obama looks to the podium during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

US-POLITICS-ENTERTAINMENT-WHCA-DINNER

Comedian Conan O'Brien (L) and US first lady Michelle Obama joke during the White House Correspondents? Association Dinner April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama attended the yearly dinner which is attended by journalists, celebrities and politicians. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Barack Obama, Conan O'Brien, Michelle Obama, Michael Clemente

Late-night television host Conan O'Brien, from left, first lady Michelle Obama, Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of Fox News, and President Barack Obama attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

US-POLITICS-ENTERTAINMENT-WHCA-DINNER

Comedian Conan O'Brien listens during the White House Correspondents? Association Dinner April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama attended the yearly dinner which is attended by journalists, celebrities and politicians. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Alicia Quarles attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Megan Hilt attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Morena Baccarin attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Musician John Legend attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Model Chrissy Teigen attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

US-POLITICS-ENTERTAINMENT-WHCA-DINNER

Entertainer John Legend arrives at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington DC, April 27, 2013. AFP Photo/ Chris KLEPONIS (Photo credit should read CHRIS KLEPONIS/AFP/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Musician Psy attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Steven Spielberg

Director Steven Spielberg uses his smart phone during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Amy Poehler attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Claire Danes attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Julia Louis-Dreyfus attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Kerry Washington attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Morena Baccarin attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Rebel Wilson and Olympic Gymnist Gabby Douglas attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Kate Mara attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Kate Mara attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Aasif Mandvi and Ty Burrel attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Al Sharpton and Chris Matthews attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Emily Mortimer attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Connie Britton attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Patricia Arquette attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: John Oliver and Kate Oliver attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actor Ryan Kwanten attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Jessica Pare attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actor Justin Bartha attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Julie Bowen attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: NFL player Victor Cruz (L) and Elaina Watley attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Ty Burrell attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Olivia Munn attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Olivia Munn attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

TIME/CNN/PEOPLE/FORTUNE Pre-Dinner Cocktail Reception

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Time Magazine Managing Editor Rick Stengel and Steven Spielberg attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Time, Inc)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Elizabeth Banks attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Elizabeth Banks attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Jessica Pare attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Aasif Mandvi attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Sofia Vergara attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Michelle Dockery attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actress Constance Zimmer attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actor Tony Goldwyn attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Thomas Roberts attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Actor Ed Helms attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Korie Robertson and Willie Robertson attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

TIME/CNN/PEOPLE/FORTUNE Pre-Dinner Cocktail Reception

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Gerard Butler and Piers Morgan attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Time, Inc)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Matthew Perry attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

2013 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: Piers Morgan and Gerard Butler attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/28/white-house-correspondents-dinner-video-2013_n_3166295.html

dolly parton i will always love you beverly hilton hotel whitney houston found dead i will always love you whitney houston 2012 grammy awards powerball results pebble beach golf

Jonah Peretti: Sex Is A Lot More Popular Than Jesus On Google

Today at Disrupt NY 2013, Buzzfeed founder Jonah Peretti took the stage to talk to the audience about how content works on the Internet: What sells, what gets shared and why. Peretti, a journalist, programmer, marketer and founding member of The Huffington Post (now owned by TechCrunch parent company AOL), has long been a student of viral media. Not surprisingly, Peretti's latest brainchild, Buzzfeed, has turned into publication of record when it comes to Web-born viral content

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HdUQkeOxnq8/

winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks mega millions results susan powell lotto numbers megamillions winners

Iraq instability tested further with bombing wave

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A wave of car bomb blasts tore through Shiite areas south of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 36 and deepening fears that Iraq is rapidly spiraling back out of control.

The attacks capped a week of turmoil that is posing the greatest test of Iraq's stability since U.S. troops left the country in late 2011. At least 218 people have been killed in attacks and battles between gunmen and security forces that began with clashes at a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq last Tuesday.

The unrest follows four months of widespread protests among Iraq's Sunni minority, who feel they are discriminated against and are being marginalized by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government.

Iraqi officials fear that Sunni feelings of disenfranchisement could be exploited by extremist groups such as al-Qaida and militant organizations such as the Naqshabandi Army, which is linked to Saddam Hussein's former regime.

In a possible sign of mounting worries over the deteriorating security situation, Iraqi authorities announced they plan to close the country's only border crossing with Jordan, beginning on Tuesday. The Interior Ministry said the move is related Iraq's domestic affairs.

The route to the border runs through the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, west of Baghdad, which have been hotbeds of Sunni anger at the government. Many Sunnis in western Iraq have economic, tribal and cultural ties with Jordanians, most of whom are also Sunni.

Sheik Fakhir al-Kubaisi, a protest organizer in Anbar province, blasted the latest closure plans as "another escalation by the Iraqi government to punish the revolting Iraqi people." He predicted the closure would drive up the prices of food and medicine, and might be tied to a coming security crackdown on protest sites in the area.

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Lt. Col. Saad Maan Ibrahim, insisted the border closure was solely a technical matter and is unrelated to ongoing tensions in the country. He did not elaborate, and said it should reopen within 48 hours.

Iraq temporarily shut the same border crossing in January, weeks after anti-government protests erupted along the desert highway heading to the checkpoint. That angered many Sunnis in western Iraq, who saw it as collective punishment for their rallies.

The International Crisis Group recently warned that the standoff between Sunni protesters and the central government has begun a dangerous slide toward confrontation.

"The emergence of an arc of instability and conflict linking Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, fueled by sectarianism and involving porous borders as well as cross-border alliances, represents a huge risk," the conflict-prevention group warned. "Failure to integrate Sunni Arabs into a genuinely representative political system in Baghdad risks turning Iraq's domestic crisis into a broader regional struggle."

Monday's deadliest attack struck the southern city of Amarah. Two parked cars loaded with explosives went off simultaneously in the early morning near a gathering of construction workers and a market, killing 18 people and wounding 42, the police said.

That attack was followed by another parked car bombing near a restaurant in the city of Diwaniyah, killing nine people and wounding 23. At least three cars were left charred and twisted from the blast outside a two-story building, and its facade was damaged. Shop owners and cleaners were seen brushing debris off the bloodstained pavement.

Amarah, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, and Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital, are heavily Shiite and usually peaceful.

Hours later, yet another car bomb went off in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, killing three civilians and wounding 14, police said. Two early Islamic figures revered by Shiites are buried in the city, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Baghdad.

And in the otherwise predominantly Sunni town of Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Baghdad, a car bomb ripped through a Shiite neighborhood, killing six people and wounding 14, another police officer said.

Ibrahim Ali, a schoolteacher there, was teaching a class when a thunderous boom went off.

"The students were panicking and some of them started to cry," he said, recounting seeing burned bodies and cars on fire at the nearby blast site. "We have been expecting this violence against Shiites because of the rising sectarian tension in the country," he said.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. Like the police, they spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's blasts. But coordinated bombings in civilian areas are a favorite tactic for al-Qaida in Iraq.

Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, condemned Monday's bombings and urged the government to step down "in order to save the country from the specter of civil war and sectarian strife." He called for the installation of an interim government, dissolution of parliament and early elections.

He issued a similar call in February for the prime minister to step down and for early elections, but there is little sign for now of that happening.

Sectarian violence has spiked since last Tuesday, when security forces tried to make arrests at a Sunni Muslim protest camp in the northern city of Hawija. The move set off a clash that killed 23 people, including three soldiers.

In Baghdad, al-Maliki met on Monday with the prime minister of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani.

A statement from the Iraqi leader's office said the two sides discussed their differences "in an atmosphere of frankness and seriousness and with a common desire to find solutions."

Ongoing disputes between Baghdad and the Kurds over sensitive issues such as ethnically disputed territories and how to manage the country's vast oil wealth further undermine Iraq's stability as al-Maliki tries to manage relations with the country's Sunni Arabs.

In other violence Monday, several mortar shells exploded in an uninhabited area near Baghdad International Airport around sunset, but no casualties were reported, police said.

An Iranian exile group whose members live in a refugee camp near the airport described the explosions as rocket strikes. It said they hit water canals at the southern part of the camp.

The group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, has been pushing for camp residents, members of its Mujahedeen-e-Khalq militant wing, to be moved back to another camp north of Baghdad. Iraq's government wants them out of the country altogether.

___

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-instability-tested-further-bombing-wave-172820332.html

animal house invincible jesse jackson whitney houston funeral video tyler perry whitney houston r kelly r. kelly

Dutch schools color orange for new king

(Ends first round) NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - Selections in the first roundof the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday (picknumber, NFL team, player, position, college): 1-Kansas City, Eric Fisher, offensive tackle, Central Michigan 2-Jacksonville, Luke Joeckel, offensive tackle, Texas A&M 3-Miami (from Oakland), Dion Jordan, defensive tackle, Oregon 4-Philadelphia, Lane Johnson, offensive tackle, Oklahoma 5-Detroit, Ezekiel Ansah, defensive end, Brigham Young 6-Cleveland, Barkevious Mingo, linebacker, LSU 7-Arizona, Jonathan Cooper, guard, North Carolina 8-St. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dutch-schools-color-orange-king-085650678.html

pauly d project adrienne rich autism cesar chavez day raspberry ketone ron burgundy millennial media

RSS Feed Search Engine - Real-Time Search Powered by FeedRank

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.rssmicro.com/rss.web?q=Community

mardi gras 2012 the secret world of arrietty cee lo allen iverson jr smith chris anderson rondo suspended

Analysis: North Korea's epic drama - stage now set for next act

By David Chance and Paul Eckert

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If North Korea's bellicose rhetoric threatening the United States and South Korea with nuclear war was aimed at dragging Washington to the negotiating table, it has likely failed.

Pyongyang may once again feel it needs to up the ante.

Two months of shrill threats following the North's nuclear test in February appeared at times to drag the Korean peninsula close to war as its young leader celebrated a year in power with a fusillade of verbal aggression that has now died down.

North Korea has made it clear it will not talk unless its right to a nuclear deterrent - its "treasured sword" - is recognized by the United States, while Washington insists any talks would be conditional on denuclearization.

That may lead to Pyongyang staging a new long-range rocket launch - which critics say is designed to prove missile technology - or a fourth nuclear test, or a small-scale military confrontation with South Korea in a bid to force talks and perhaps split Seoul from Washington.

"The difference in positions between the United States and North Korea is greater than ever," said Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's former national security advisor who left office in February and took part in framing U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear test that month.

Chun took part in meetings with North Korean negotiators as part of "six-party talks", a series that ran from 2003 among the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia that were aimed at stemming the North's progress towards a nuclear bomb. He participated in talks in 2006 and in 2008, the last round.

The North has said it wants the United States to sign a formal peace treaty formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War, an end to U.N. sanctions and a pledge from Washington and Seoul not to attack it, as well as nuclear recognition.

"It has become much more difficult to seek common ground and find the right conditions for talks," said Chun, referring to the preconditions set out by Pyongyang.

North Korea has a long history of spurning engagement and trust-building measures. During the six-party talks, it agreed to abandon all of its nuclear weapons programs in 2005, only to stage nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 as well as this year.

As recently as last year, it said it would allow nuclear inspectors back into the country, not launch any long-range rockets and go back to talks in exchange for U.S. food aid.

Just a few weeks later as Kim Jong-un formally took power, it undertook another rocket launch, scuppering the deal.

The lack of trust and verification means that once bitten, President Barack Obama is unlikely to fall for a second North Korean ploy, especially after crude propaganda films depicted the United States in flames from a North Korean attack.

"Because it is North Korea, the decision goes all the way to the Oval Office and I just don't see President Obama wanting to make any investment in this," said Victor Cha, formerly President George W. Bush's top advisor on North Korean affairs.

CHINA CARD?

Beijing is North Korea's one ally and could provide a route back into talks, although it too has expressed its frustration with the North's young leader.

When Kim Jong-un took office, there were hopes he would break with his father's push for nuclear weapons and embark on Chinese-style economic reforms.

But a year later, the young leader has still not paid a visit to Beijing. And instead of reforming, he has spent the past year purging the military and shuffling his close advisors. He has now staged two long-range rocket launches and one nuclear test.

"China is not very happy with Kim Jong-un for creating trouble," a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

"Kim Jong-un has been testing his control over the military through mobilization, but he overdid it."

Despite Beijing's displeasure, the young Kim may feel he has little more to lose.

Most analysts say that despite agreeing to sanctions on North Korea after February's nuclear test, Beijing will not economically strangle a client state that provides a buffer between it and U.S. forces stationed in South Korea.

South Korea's new President Park Geun-hye will meet Obama in Washington on May 7, providing the North with something it could use as another leverage point for a missile launch, nuclear test or other show of military strength.

North Korea carried out its February nuclear test just as Park was about to take office and as new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took up his post. The test also came at around the time of leadership transitions in Tokyo and Beijing.

"The reason things calmed down over the past 10 days or so ... was not bluster fatigue setting in, or not deciding strategically to tone things down now after having been on the rampage for so long, but more to catch their adversaries off their guard," said Sung-Yoon Lee, Professor of Korean Studies at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in the United States.

(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim in BEIJING; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Mark Bendeich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-north-koreas-epic-drama-stage-now-set-060320353.html

j.k. rowling axl rose google earnings pat burrell hilary rosen grilled cheese allen west

Fiery Afghan bus crash kills 45, Taliban blamed

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) ? A bus collided on Friday with the wreckage of a truck that had been attacked by Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, killing 45 people aboard the bus in a fiery crash, officials said.

The battered oil tanker had been left in the middle of a narrow road near the border of Kandahar and Helmand provinces for several days after insurgents attacked it. Police considered the area too dangerous to enter, the officials said.

Before sunrise Friday, the bus smashed into the truck and burst into flames, said Abdul Razaq, the provincial police chief of Kandahar.

Police, soldiers and ambulances rushed to the crash site in a desolate area. Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition and it will be difficult to establish their identities, Razaq said.

One survivor, Mohammad Habib, cried as he searched for his brother.

"I don't care about my belongings and money that were burned inside the bus, but please help me find my brother, dead or alive," he told AP Television News. "How will I face my mother without him?"

Forty-five people were killed and 10 injured, said Javeed Faisal, the spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province. He spoke to The Associated Press at Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar city where many of the victims, including men, women and children, were taken.

The bus began its journey in the capital of Helmand province and was to stop in Kandahar city, then travel north to Kabul, the Afghan capital, Razaq said.

Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan, where rules of the road are often ignored by a chaotic mix of cars, trucks, bicycles, pedestrians and animals. Roads outside the capital are often poorly maintained and travelers are subject to roadside bombs and highway robberies.

Last September, a bus and truck collided and burst into flames on a highway in the eastern province of Ghazni, killing at least 51 people.

Also Friday, the U.S.-led international military coalition said Afghan and foreign forces arrested about 10 insurgents in the past two days in four provinces, including several Taliban fighters in Kandahar.

___

AP writers Thomas Wagner and Amir Shah in Kabul contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fiery-afghan-bus-crash-kills-45-taliban-blamed-121520376.html

Dave Brubeck frankie muniz today show katt williams greg mcelroy bob costas bowl projections

Country superstar George Jones dead at 81

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b379c6b/l/0Lvideo0Bmsnbc0Bmsn0N0Cid0C51676342/story01.htm

stephen colbert new madrid fault rihanna and chris brown affirmative action helicon zac efron and taylor swift real housewives of orange county

Mexican newspaper photographer found dead, mutilated

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The hacked-up bodies of a photojournalist and another young man have been found in the northern Mexico city of Saltillo, authorities said Thursday.

Photographer Daniel Martinez Bazaldua, 22, had recently been hired to cover social events for Vanguardia, the paper said in a story in its online edition. Officials identified the other man as Julian Zamora, 23.

Saltillo is in northern Coahuila state, an area where the Zetas drug cartel is active. Another Coahuila newspaper recently announced it would no longer publish stories about drug gangs, after receiving threats apparently signed by a Zetas leader.

State prosecutors said the bodies were found Wednesday in a jumbled pile of severed parts on a street, next to a hand-lettered message that appeared to indicate the Zetas were responsible for the killings.

The state government said the sign suggested the two young men had deserted from a drug gang.

Coahuila state Attorney General Homero Ramos told reporters later that investigators had testimony indicating both men "were participating in illegal activities."

Vanguardia criticized that accusation, noting that the message left at the scene also contained threats to police.

"We think it is sad and alarming that Coahuila has become a state in which the authorities condemn murdered people, converting them into criminals, without offering the least evidence," the newspaper wrote.

"Only a serious, professional investigation can find out the truth that society deserves," Vanguardia said.

Vanguardia Editorial Director Ricardo Mendoza told The Associated Press that Martinez Bazaldua was "very calm," ''friendly" and "enthusiastic," and said he did not know whether the killing was related to his work as a photographer.

In some cartel-plagued cities in Mexico, covering even the society section can be dangerous, because cartel leaders may hang out at prominent social events and get angry if they are included in photos. In some cases, if they want the attention, they can be angered if they are left out.

The Inter-American Press Association condemned the photographer's killing and demanded authorities do a thorough investigation. It also said it was regretful that state authorities almost immediately linked him to organized crime.

"It's irresponsible that without doing a minimal investigation, authorities immediately linked the killings a vengeance by members of organized crime," it said.

Four journalists have been killed in Coahuila and two more have gone missing since 1989. None of the cases have been solved, the association said.

Press advocates have long called Mexico one of the most dangerous nations for reporters. But there isn't a single, agreed-upon figure on crimes against journalists.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says in its latest report published in February that 12 Mexican journalists went missing in 2006-2012 and that in the same period 14 were killed because of their work. Mexico's human rights commission lists 81 journalists who it says have been killed since 2000.

In 2012, Mexico's special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression said 67 journalists had been killed and 14 had disappeared in the country since 2006.

On Thursday, the lower house of congress approved a bill that would allow journalists to request that federal prosecutors and federal judges investigate attacks on them, and to establish cases in which such federal intervention would be obligatory. The bill was previously approved by the senate and has now been sent to the president for his signature.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mexican-newspaper-photographer-found-dead-153205581.html

Sally Field The Oscars Searching For Sugar Man george clooney Zero Dark Thirty Academy Awards 2013 Django Unchained

Three under investigation over topless Kate Middleton photos - source

PARIS (Reuters) - The publisher of a French celebrity magazine was placed under formal investigation for breach of privacy over the publication of topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge, a judicial source said on Wednesday.

The photographer who snapped the pictures of the Duchess, or Kate Middleton, in the summer last year and a regional daily were also put under investigation, the last step in France before being charged, the source said.

Closer magazine, a weekly round-up of celebrity gossip, published in September a series of photos of the Duchess, the wife of Prince William, topless on holidays in southern France, something that incensed much of the British public.

The photos showed Kate slipping off her bikini top, relaxing on a sun lounger and at one point pulling down the back of her bikini bottoms. Buckingham Palace had called the photo spread a "grotesque" invasion of the royal couple's privacy.

The publisher of the magazine - the French branch of Italy's Mondadori - and the paparazzi who snapped the photos from a distance were put under formal investigation earlier this month, the judicial source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Mondadori in a statement said the company "was not aware of any new developments in addition to what is already known on this matter".

The regional daily La Provence, which published pictures of Prince William and his wife in swimming suits during the same holiday, was put under formal investigation this week, the source said.

An investigation does not necessarily lead to formal charges.

The office of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge could not be reached for comment.

(Corrects that publisher, not editor, of Closer put under investigation)

(Reporting by Nicolas Bertin in Paris; Additional reporting by Antonella Ciancio in Milan and Sarah Young in London; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/three-under-investigation-france-over-topless-kate-middleton-195933595--finance.html

resolute national enquirer whitney houston casket photo jk rowling qnexa kingdom of heaven national enquirer whitney houston arizona republican debate

U.S. government, Fisker grilled over loans to green carmaker

By Ayesha Rascoe and Deepa Seetharaman

(Reuters) - Taxpayer-backed funds kept flowing to electric carmaker Fisker Automotive months after the company failed to meet key production benchmarks, lawmakers said at a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

Republican lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee cited Department of Energy documents as showing Fisker got $32 million in payments, even after it failed to launch its Karma vehicle in February of 2011.

They spent hours quizzing current and former Fisker executives and an Energy Department official over what the lawmakers termed the government's "bad bet" on the fledgling luxury car-maker, and questioned whether the company received special treatment that put taxpayer dollars at risk.

The committee hearing focused on the DOE's decision in 2009 to grant the company a $529 million loan only to see it veer toward bankruptcy - a chain of events with echoes of Solyndra, the government-backed solar manufacturer that went out of business in 2011.

"The government is a very poor venture capitalist," said Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina.

Fisker's troubles are the latest in a string of green automotive technology flops, including last year's bankruptcy of its lithium-ion battery supplier, A123 Systems. Forecasts in 2009 for sales of hybrid and electric vehicles far outstripped subsequent demand.

Henrik Fisker, founder and former CEO, said the company, which has not built a vehicle since July, can still bounce back and repay nearly $200 million in government loans if is able to find the right "financial and strategic resources."

Testifying about his eponymous company, the Danish-born Fisker, who was forced to resign as chairman in March, blamed problems with its parts suppliers, delays in regulatory approval and recalls of its flagship Karma plug-in hybrid sports car for the company's struggles.

The automaker verges on collapse. Among the questions still outstanding is whether Fisker's prospects were ever strong enough to warrant the DOE's backing, which helped trigger a flood of private financing for Fisker.

"After resolving initial launch challenges, the cars perform well and customers love them," Fisker asserted.

Fisker's failure to make a payment on the DOE loan on Monday was the latest of its troubles. In recent weeks, Fisker has fired 75 percent of its workforce and hired bankruptcy advisers.

"The Obama Administration owes the American taxpayer an explanation as to why this bad loan was made in the first place, and what they are going to do to minimize the loss that taxpayers face," said Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, chairman of the subcommittee holding Wednesday's hearing.

DOE BACKING BOOSTED FISKER

The DOE's early backing helped put Fisker, and its $100,000-plus Karma plug-in hybrid sports car, on the map. With government backing in hand, Fisker has gone on to raise $1.2 billion in private funds to date, according to SEC filings.

The 2009 loan signaled that the DOE had done a rigorous review of the project, said Salo Zelermyer, a senior counsel at the DOE under the Bush administration, who also helped create the auto loan program. The loan program was funded in late 2008.

"It's fair to say the projects the DOE chose to proceed with were clearly given an added credibility with folks on the outside," said Zelermyer, now a senior counsel at Bracewell and Giuliani in Washington.

Fisker tapped $192 million of its $529 million before the DOE quietly decided to freeze Fisker's credit line in June 2011.

Neither the DOE nor Fisker publicly disclosed that decision until early 2012. Lawyers and a DOE official said the department was not obligated to divulge the decision.

In the confidential "information statement" sent to shareholders in December 2011 and obtained by Reuters, Fisker said it "will not meet certain financial covenants and project milestones" required in the DOE agreement, including earnings, net worth and certain financial ratio targets.

Lawmakers raised questions about the relationship between the DOE and Fisker, which has been strained in recent months, people familiar with the matter have said.

Republicans said Fisker received loans despite its junk bond rating and unproven track record.

The terms of Fisker's pact with the DOE were enough to put off potential suitors, including Chinese automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. The conditions included an obligation to restore capacity and jobs at the company's Delaware plant according to a schedule imposed by the U.S. government.

Energy Department officials defended the auto loan program, saying it helped to bring the industry from the brink of collapse during a severe economic downturn. Mainstream carmakers like GM and Chrysler were key beneficiaries, and their revival has been widely acclaimed.

Nicholas Whitcombe, former head of the auto loan program, said the DOE remains open to providing additional aid to the auto industry.

Since the high profile failure of Solyndra, a topic brought up regularly by Republicans during President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, the Obama administration has become far more risk averse when doling out loan payments.

Solyndra, the first loan recipient and first major failure for the department's portfolio, received more than $527 million of its $535 million loan before filing for bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman and Paul Lienert in Detroit, Ayesha Rascoe in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Ros Krasny, Matthew Lewis, Leslie Gevirtz and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/floundering-fisker-faces-grilling-over-government-loan-181203884.html

ernest borgnine ESPYs 2012 venus williams Freeh Report direct tv wimbledon ray allen

Netflix Spends $2B Per Year On Content, Primarily On Licensing Movies And TV Shows

Following up on their strong quarterly report earlier this week, Netflix has just released a big ol' mission statement document to their investor relations site, and it's jam packed with all sorts of great lil' details. For example: you know how every Netflix customer's first complaint is that there's just not enough great streaming content? They know ? and they're spending $2B a year to fix it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wnKa6dKPSYk/

New Year Outback Bowl Carly Rae Jepsen dallas cowboys Rose Bowl 2013 kim kardashian anderson cooper

S. Korea vows 'grave measure' if North rejects talks

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? South Korea on Thursday warned of an unspecified "grave measure" if North Korea rejects talks on a jointly run factory park shuttered for nearly a month ? setting up the possible end of the last remaining major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

In a televised briefing with reporters, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk refused to describe what Seoul would do if Pyongyang doesn't respond by a deadline Friday to a demand for formal working-level talks on the industrial complex just over the heavily armed border in the North Korean town of Kaesong. But Seoul's talk of a "grave measure" may be an attempt to signal it will pull out its remaining workers from the complex.

For weeks, until recently, North Korea issued a steady stream of criticism and threats of war aimed at Seoul and Washington, expressing anger over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that the North calls invasion preparations and U.N. sanctions over its February nuclear test.

Amid the rising animosity, North Korea early this month barred South Koreans from crossing the border and entering the factory. It later suspended operations and withdrew the 53,000 North Korean workers who manned assembly lines there.

The factory, a hold-over from an era that saw the Koreas set up various cooperative projects meant to facilitate better ties, has operated with South Korean know-how and technology and with cheap labor from North Korea since 2004. It has weathered past cycles of hostility between the rivals, including two attacks blamed on North Korea in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.

Pyongyang has recently eased its rhetoric, and there have been some tentative signs of an interest in dialogue, but tensions between the Koreas remain high.

At the Kaesong factory, food has dwindled, and with no apparent end to North Korea's suspension in sight, a daily trickle of South Korean workers have returned home. Still, Pyongyang hasn't forced South Koreans to leave, and about 175 are still there.

Kim said South Korea set a deadline for the North's reply to talks on the complex because of the food shortage facing the South Koreans remaining at Kaesong.

"Our people are suffering serious difficulties due to the shortage of food and medicine, and our companies are suffering big damages," Kim said.

To resolve deadlocked operations at Kaesong, Kim said North Korea should first allow some South Koreans to cross the border to hand over food and medicine to the remaining managers at the complex.

South Korea on Wednesday proposed talks between the head of a South Korean management office at Kaesong and the North's General Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone, but the North rebuffed the offer, Kim said.

"It's very regrettable for North Korea to reject (taking) the minimum humanitarian measures for our workers at the Kaesong industrial complex," he said.

Separately, some South Korean businesses have already been quietly mulling giving up on Kaesong altogether.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/skorea-demands-talks-nkorea-closed-factory-013622996--finance.html

Dicks Sporting Good office max office max jcp Sports Authority Hollister old navy

Australian charged with hacking government site

In this Tuesday, April 23, 2013 photo provided by the Australian Federal Police, a handcuffed man is escorted by police following his arrest on a charge of attacking and defacing a government website. The Australian man, who police say has claimed to be a high-level member of international hacking collective Lulz Security, was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment, and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of, restricted data. (AP Photo/Australian Federal Police) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

In this Tuesday, April 23, 2013 photo provided by the Australian Federal Police, a handcuffed man is escorted by police following his arrest on a charge of attacking and defacing a government website. The Australian man, who police say has claimed to be a high-level member of international hacking collective Lulz Security, was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment, and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of, restricted data. (AP Photo/Australian Federal Police) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

SYDNEY (AP) ? Australian police have arrested a man they say is affiliated with international hacking collective Lulz Security on a charge of attacking and defacing a government website, officials said Wednesday.

The 24-year-old senior IT worker, whose name was not released, was arrested on Tuesday night at his Sydney office, the Australian Federal Police said. The man, who police say has claimed to be a high-level member of the hacking group, was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment, and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of, restricted data. If convicted, he could face up to 12 years in jail.

Lulz Security, or LulzSec, is an offshoot of the hacking group Anonymous. LulzSec was formed in 2011 and quickly grabbed headlines after claiming responsibility for a series of high-profile cyberattacks against the CIA, Sony Pictures, the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service and Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency.

Several members of the group have been arrested in recent years, including its reputed leader, known as Sabu. Sabu turned out to be FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur, who federal officials said helped them build a case against several other hackers. Two weeks ago, British LulzSec hacker Ryan Ackroyd pleaded guilty to several cyberattacks.

Australian Federal Police Superintendent Brad Marden said the man arrested on Tuesday hacked into an Australian government website and defaced it earlier this month. Marden would not say which website was attacked, but said it did not belong to a federal agency. Police don't believe any sensitive data stored on the site was accessed in the attack, and don't believe anyone else was involved in the hack.

The man, from Gosford ? about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Sydney ? claimed to be the Australian leader of LulzSec, Australian Federal Police Commander Glen McEwen said. But Anonymous Australia appeared to laugh off those claims on Twitter. In response to a follower asking if anyone knew who the man was, the group tweeted: "Nope not part of the usual suspects on any of our chans of communication."

Police began investigating the man two weeks ago after they discovered the government website had been hacked.

"This individual was operating from a position of trust who had access to sensitive information from clients including government agencies," McEwen said. "The AFP believes this man's skill sets and access to this type of information presented a considerable risk for Australian society."

The man was released on bail and ordered to appear in court next month.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-24-Australia-Hacking%20Arrest/id-37e6a42f718f4f20bf1cbc31478aa83e

college football scores khan academy Espn College Football Eddie Murphy died Suzanne Barr Clint Eastwood speech Maria Montessori

Divergent Image Featuring Shailene Woodley: Arrived!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/divergent-image-featuring-shailene-woodley-arrived/

grenada grenada Sikh Sanya Richards Ross decathlon Honey Boo Boo Child marilyn monroe

PFT: LB McClain arrested? |? Done with Ravens?

Getty Images

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam apparently has received ? and is heeding ? advice from his lawyers regarding the fact that anything he says can and will be used against him, if/when he personally faces charges for fraud allegedly committed by the billion-dollar, family-owned truck-stop company he runs.

As a result, Haslam met with the media again on Monday, but instead of speaking extemporaneously and then answering questions, he read from a lengthy prepared statement that surely was written or at least reviewed and revised by one or more lawyers.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has the full text of the statement, which says nothing about the Browns.? While the smartest move at this point would be to say nothing at all about anything, Haslam realizes that his customers could scatter and his employees could flee and the entire operation could disintegrate without real efforts to hold the business together.

But in starting the process of rebuilding trust and restoring confidence, Haslam comes dangerously close to admitting that improprieties occurred.? For example, in explaining that the company will now have a ?Chief Compliance Officer,? Haslam basically acknowledges that, if whoever blew the whistle to the feds had a way to blow the whistle internally, the whole thing could have been fixed without outside scrutiny.

?The establishment of a position of Chief Compliance Officer is important, because had we had one before, perhaps some team member would have raised a question about manual rebates internally before anyone would ever have gone to federal investigators,? Haslam said.

Haslam also continues to emphasize that the situation affects only a ?narrow? portion of the company?s business.? But with 3,300 trucking-company customers, a lot of fraud can still happen to a ?narrow? band of customers.? Reciting instances of compliance with the lawyer is never a defense to the specific instances when the law was broken.

Most significantly, Haslam explained that the company placed on ?administrative leave several members of our diesel fuel team.?? Presumably, that includes V.P. of sales John Freeman, whose colorful and profane terms were caught on tape by an informant, along with an admission that Haslam was aware of the alleged rebate scam.

If/when Freeman agrees to testify against Haslam, Haslam will have a serious problem; in the interim, Haslam and his lawyers necessarily must commence preparations for painting this once-trusted employee as inherently unreliable, especially as to anything he would say under oath about Haslam.

Of course, none of it matters if Pilot Flying J ends up being driven into the ground by the loss of customers and personnel.? Haslam?s statement from Monday is aimed at keeping that from happening.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/22/new-raven-rolando-mcclain-arrested-for-disorderly-conduct/related/

Psalm 91 Super Bowl 2013 Commercials Evasi0n NFL.com Superdome Iron Man 3 Trailer Super Bowl 2013

Physicists find right (and left) solution for on-chip optics: Nanoscale router converts and directs optical signals efficiently

Apr. 22, 2013 ? A Harvard-led team of researchers has created a new type of nanoscale device that converts an optical signal into waves that travel along a metal surface. Significantly, the device can recognize specific kinds of polarized light and accordingly send the signal in one direction or another.

The findings, published in the April 19 issue of Science, offer a new way to precisely manipulate light at the subwavelength scale without damaging a signal that could carry data. This opens the door to a new generation of on-chip optical interconnects that can efficiently funnel information from optical to electronic devices.

"If you want to send a data signal around on a tiny chip with lots of components, then you need to be able to precisely control where it's going," says co-lead author Balthasar M?ller, a graduate student at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). "If you don't control it well, information will be lost. Directivity is such an important factor."

The coupler transforms incoming light into a wave called a surface plasmon polariton, a surface ripple in the sea of electrons that exists inside metals.

In the past, it has been possible to control the direction of these waves by changing the angle at which light strikes the surface of the coupler, but, as M?ller puts it, "This was a major pain. Optical circuits are very difficult to align, so readjusting the angles for the sake of routing the signal was impractical."

With the new coupler, the light simply needs to come in perpendicularly, and the device does the rest. Acting like a traffic controller, it reads the polarization of the incoming light wave -- which might be linear, left-hand circular, or right-hand circular -- and routes it accordingly. The device can even split apart a light beam and send parts of it in different directions, allowing for information transmission on multiple channels.

The coupler consists of a thin sheet of gold, peppered with tiny perforations. But the precise pattern of these slits, arranged rather like herringbones, is where the genius lies.

"The go-to solution until now has been a series of parallel grooves known as a grating, which does the trick but loses a large portion of the signal in the process," says principal investigator Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at Harvard SEAS. "Now perhaps the go-to solution will be our structure. It makes it possible to control the direction of signals in a very simple and elegant way."

Because the new structure is so small -- each repeating unit of the pattern is smaller than the wavelength of visible light -- the researchers believe it should be easy to incorporate the design into novel technologies, such as flat optics.

Yet Capasso speaks most animatedly about the possibilities for incorporating the new coupler into future high-speed information networks that may combine nanoscale electronics (which currently exist) with optical and plasmonic elements on a single microchip.

"This has generated great excitement in the field," Capasso says.

M?ller and Capasso were joined on this work by co-lead author Jiao Lin, a former SEAS postdoctoral fellow who is now at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology; and coauthors Qian Wang and Guanghui Yuan, of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Nicholas Antoniou, Principal FIB Engineer at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems; and Xiao-Cong Yuan, a professor at the Institute of Modern Optics at Nankai University in China.

The research was supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the National Research Foundation of Singapore. Part of the work was performed at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems, which is a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. J. Lin, J. P. B. Mueller, Q. Wang, G. Yuan, N. Antoniou, X.-C. Yuan, F. Capasso. Polarization-Controlled Tunable Directional Coupling of Surface Plasmon Polaritons. Science, 2013; 340 (6130): 331 DOI: 10.1126/science.1233746

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/_0lvH4V3B7c/130422143313.htm

sandy Time Change 2012 Marcus Lattimore news 12 world series Natina Reed giants

Israel's Babylon in four-year Internet deal with Yahoo

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli translation software provider Babylon has signed a four-year cooperation agreement with Yahoo Inc in the Internet sector, including on mobile devices.

According to the agreement, which can be extended beyond four years, the two companies will share in revenue from Internet advertising, Babylon said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Babylon's management estimates this agreement will have a substantial contribution to the company. At this stage management cannot assess the amount of this contribution," the statement said. A spokeswoman for the company declined to provide further details on the deal.

In 2012 Google was the main source of revenue for Babylon.

The company has said it expects strong revenue growth this year thanks to increased advertising income on the back of its plan to offer its latest product free of charge.

Babylon, which provides translation of words, phrases, documents and web pages in 77 languages, said 94 percent of its revenue comes from advertising.

Among the company's mobile applications is Babylon Touch, which allows users to point a camera at signs or menus and receive instant translations.

In November, Babylon filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq, with the aim of raising up to $115 million this year.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israels-babylon-4-internet-deal-yahoo-080918618--sector.html

theraflu joe avezzano kanye west theraflu joey votto the masters live mega millions winner holy thursday

GWH News and Notes: Resistance Pro Wrestling Television Episode 9

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.gwhnews.com/2013/04/resistance-pro-wrestling-television.html

devils la riots rachel maddow gia utah jazz lawrence of arabia denver nuggets

Special E. coli bacteria produce diesel on demand

Apr. 22, 2013 ? It sounds like science fiction but a team from the University of Exeter, with support from Shell, has developed a method to make bacteria produce diesel on demand. While the technology still faces many significant commercialisation challenges, the diesel, produced by special strains of E. coli bacteria, is almost identical to conventional diesel fuel and so does not need to be blended with petroleum products as is often required by biodiesels derived from plant oils.

This also means that the diesel can be used with current supplies in existing infrastructure because engines, pipelines and tankers do not need to be modified. Biofuels with these characteristics are being termed 'drop-ins'.

Professor John Love from Biosciences at the University of Exeter said: "Producing a commercial biofuel that can be used without needing to modify vehicles has been the goal of this project from the outset. Replacing conventional diesel with a carbon neutral biofuel in commercial volumes would be a tremendous step towards meeting our target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Global demand for energy is rising and a fuel that is independent of both global oil price fluctuations and political instability is an increasingly attractive prospect."

E. coli bacteria naturally turn sugars into fat to build their cell membranes. Synthetic fuel oil molecules can be created by harnessing this natural oil production process. Large scale manufacturing using E. coli as the catalyst is already commonplace in the pharmaceutical industry and, although the biodiesel is currently produced in tiny quantities in the laboratory, work will continue to see if this may be a viable commercial pathway to 'drop in' fuels.

Rob Lee from Shell Projects & Technology said: "We are proud of the work being done by Exeter in using advanced biotechnologies to create the specific hydrocarbon molecules that we know will continue to be in high demand in the future. While the technology still faces several hurdles to commercialisation, by exploring this new method of creating biofuel, along with other intelligent technologies, we hope they could help us to meet the challenges of limiting the rise in carbon dioxide emissions while responding to the growing global requirement for transport fuel."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Exeter, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Thomas P. Howard, Sabine Middelhaufe, Karen Moore, Christoph Edner, Dagmara M. Kolak, George N. Taylor, David A. Parker, Rob Lee, Nicholas Smirnoff, Stephen J. Aves, and John Love. Synthesis of customized petroleum-replica fuel molecules by targeted modification of free fatty acid pools in Escherichia coli. PNAS, April 22, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1215966110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/Yqy4qLIUU2s/130422154911.htm

florida panthers tannehill joel ward mock draft north country brian mcknight sbux

Love at first sniff: Male moths go by first impressions

Apr. 16, 2013 ? An international team of researchers, including an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside, has an explanation for why we see so many hybrid moths in nature. The team closely examined the behavior and the olfactory circuitry of male moths and found an answer in female-produced pheromones -- chemicals generally consisting of a blend of two to several derivatives of fatty acids.

Male moths use pheromones to find females. To avoid mating with the wrong moth species, the pheromone blends are specific for each moth species, with only males of the same species "understanding" these volatile messages -- a result shown many times during the last 40 years of research on moth pheromones. The researchers focused on the European corn borer, a moth species in which males often mate with females from a different strain.

Strains are variants, forms of the same species. While two different species cannot mate with each other, strains, being from the same species, can.

To understand the mating behavior of the European corn borer, first, the researchers followed the flights of males to female pheromones in a wind tunnel. Each strain of the European corn borer uses a blend of pheromone components in a very specific ratio. But to their surprise, the researchers found that as the male moth flies upwind along the pheromone plume, its olfactory circuitry loses the ability to measure this ratio.

"This happens because receptors in the moth brain for each pheromone component have differential rates of sensory adaptation and each type of receptor begins to fire at a different rate, causing the input into the moth's brain to change as the moth flies along the plume," explained Teun Dekker, a former UCR graduate student and now an associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and a coauthor on the study. "To overcome this mismatch, moths rely on the ratio they detected in their first encounter with the plume."

According to the researchers, this "mental short cut" is needed for male moths to continue their orientation along the plumes which, from a sensory input viewpoint, seem to be changing in pheromone component ratio.

"Once male moths lock onto a pheromone plume, they are much less attuned to blend quality," Dekker said. "In other words, males fly even to blends that were initially unattractive, and so can mate with females of different strains that they would not have approached otherwise, explaining why we find hybrid moths in nature."

Study results appeared online April 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Experimental details

The researchers conducted a series of behavioral experiments with overlapping pheromone plumes as well as plumes that sharply transitioned from one blend to another in a wind tunnel at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. They chose the European corn borer moth to study for its narrow tuning to a binary blend of female-produced 14-carbon-chainlength acetates, called here Z11 and E11 for simplicity. Two strains exist, the Z and E strains, which produce and prefer blends of differing ratios of the Z11 to E11 pheromone components.

The researchers installed pheromone lures of each strain in the wind tunnel, as well as an intermediate, hybrid lure. Next they exposed males to the partially overlapping pheromone plumes released by these lures, thus mimicking plumes occurring in nature when a large number of moths are present.

They found that males were initially attracted to lures releasing pheromones produced by females of their own strain. But after taking flight, the males "relax their specificity," that is, they are less particular about which lures they fly to. For example, in a choice between three partially overlapping pheromone sources in one experiment, 58 percent, 38 percent and 4 percent of Z-strain males landed on Z, H and E lures, respectively.

"What we generally recognize as a distinctive smell -- the scent of a flower or the aroma of coffee -- typically consists of a mixture of many different chemicals," said study coauthor Ring Card?, a distinguished professor of entomology who holds the Alfred M. Boyce Chair in the UCR Department of Entomology. "This is the signature of a particular bouquet -- the presence of a blend of many chemicals often in specific ratios. Our work suggests that it could be the first impression -- the first whiff of odor -- that determines the ability of an insect to recognize that odor mixture."

Next, the researchers will examine if a response specific to odor blends is altered in other moth species and organisms such as mosquitoes after their first encounter with an odor mixture.

Zsolt K?rp?ti at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Marco Tasin at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences also contributed to the study. Dekker worked in Card?'s lab, graduating from UCR with a doctoral degree in 2002.

Card?, who spent three months in 2011 in Sweden to conduct the research, was supported by a grant from the Swedish Royal Academy of Natural Sciences, Medicine and Technology.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Riverside. The original article was written by Iqbal Pittalwala.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Z. Karpati, M. Tasin, R. T. Carde, T. Dekker. Early quality assessment lessens pheromone specificity in a moth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1216145110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/RzuCCZu_8aU/130416121744.htm

Dexter Season 7 Ryder Cup 2012 Johnny Lewis yom kippur yom kippur avengers soa

Medical researchers implant telescope for macular degeneration

Apr. 15, 2013 ? Physicians at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center have become the first in Virginia to successfully implant a telescope in a patient's eye to treat macular degeneration.

The telescope implant is designed to correct end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most advanced form of AMD and the leading cause of blindness in older Americans. Patients with end-stage AMD have a central blind spot. This vision loss makes it difficult or impossible to see faces, to read and to perform everyday activities such as watching television, preparing meals and self-care.

William H. Benson, M.D., a cornea specialist and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the VCU School of Medicine, performed the procedure.

"We are excited to provide this new surgical option to our advanced macular degeneration patients, who up until now have had limited options for improving vision," Benson said. "Advanced macular degeneration is a devastating disease, which cannot be treated by any available drugs or surgical procedures. The telescope implant offers a new hope for patients with limited vision."

Smaller than a pea, the telescope implant uses micro-optical technology to magnify images that would normally be seen in one's "straight ahead" or central vision. The images are projected onto the healthy portion of the retina not affected by the disease, making it possible for patients to see or discern the central vision object of interest.

The Implantable Miniature Telescope (By Dr. Isaac Lipshitz) is a product of VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Inc.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/cLuXWEbYCow/130415151446.htm

Fireman Ed Allegiant Air Melissa Rycroft mega millions Cyber Monday Deals 2012 Sasha McHale Boy Meets World

Monday Brief: More Facebook Home, iRadio, the Lumia 720, and more!

Mobile Nations Podcast Feed Mobile Nations on iTunes Mobile Nations YouTube Iterate 44: Mark Kawano and evangelizing experience	HTC First with Facebook Home now available on AT&T Facebook Home and the HTC First - what you need to know Verizon moves to longer and stricter upgrade times
What’s really going on with Detwiler’s false accusations, and how BlackBerry is handling it beautifully BlackBerry Q10 - Preorders are now open for a lot of carriers CrackBerry NYC Meetup - The Movie!	The Great webOS Nation Giveaway: write a haiku, win one of four AT&T Pre3s LG turning to Firefox OS for developing markets, whither webOS?
Apple's rumored iRadio service rumored to be on the verge of signing Universal, Warner T-Mobile iPhone buyers guide and T-Mobile iPhone users guide Betting against Apple: Why stock swarms only work when we let them Editor's desk: Putting the more in iMore	Nokia Lumia 720 – Unboxing and first impressions (Hint: It's awesome) Lumia 920 ‘1314’ firmware gets announced, fixes AT&T phones with connection problems Exclusive first look at Nokia’s double tap to awake and on-screen clock coming to the Lumia 920

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/sz6g_9E8e9w/story01.htm

K Michelle roger clemens multiple sclerosis falling skies rodney king