Israel hits target in Syria border area: sources (Reuters)

Israel hits target in Syria border area: sources

---

Posted 2013/01/30 at 8:49 am EST

LONDON, Jan. 30, 2013 (Reuters) ? Israeli forces attacked a convoy on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight, a Western diplomat and regional security sources said on Wednesday, as concern has grown in the Jewish state over the fate of Syrian chemical and advanced conventional weapons.

The sources, four in total, all of whom declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, had no further information about what the vehicles may have been carrying, what forces were used or where precisely the attack happened.

In the run-up to the raid, Israeli officials have been warning very publicly of a threat of high-tech anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles reaching Israel's enemies in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah from Syria. They have also echoed U.S. concerns about Syria's presumed chemical weapons arsenal.

The Lebanese army reported a heavy presence of Israeli jets over its territory throughout the night.

"There was definitely a hit in the border area," one security source said. A Western diplomat in the region who asked about the strike said "something has happened", without elaborating.

An activist in Syria who works with a network of opposition groups around the country said that she had heard of a strike in southern Syria from her colleagues but could not confirm it. A strike just inside Lebanon would appear a less diplomatically explosive option for Israel to avoid provoking Syrian ally Iran.

Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said on Sunday that any sign that Syria's grip on its chemical weapons was slipping, as President Bashar al-Assad fights rebels trying to overthrow him, could trigger Israeli intervention.

Israeli sources said on Tuesday that Syria's advanced conventional weapons would represent as much of a threat to Israel as its chemical arms should they fall into the hands of Islamist rebels or Hezbollah guerrillas based in Lebanon.

Interviewed on Wednesday, Shalom would not be drawn on whether Israel was operating on its northern front, instead describing the country as part of an international coalition seeking to stop spillover from Syria's two-year-old insurgency.

"The entire world has said more than once that it takes developments in Syria very seriously, developments which can be in negative directions," he told Israel Radio, recalling that President Barack Obama has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of U.S. action if his forces use chemical weapons.

"The world, led by President Obama who has said this more than once, is taking all possibilities into account," Shalom added. "And of course any development which is a development in a negative direction would be something that needs stopping and prevention."

BORDER STRIKE

Whether the strike took place within Syrian territory, or over the border in Lebanon, could affect any escalation from the incident. Iran, Israel's arch-foe and one of Damascus's few allies, said on Saturday it would consider any attack on Syria as an attack on itself. During and since Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah, there have been unconfirmed reports of Israeli strikes on convoys just after they entered Lebanon from Syria.

Israel has long made clear it claims a right to act preemptively against enemy capabilities. Alluding to this, air force chief Major-General Amir Eshel on Tuesday said his corps was involved in a covert and far-flung "campaign between wars".

"This campaign is 24/7, 365 days a year," Eshel told an international conference. "We are taking action to reduce the immediate threats, to create better conditions in which we will be able to win the wars, when they happen."

He did not elaborate on any operations, but did single out the threat Israel saw from Syria's arsenal, calling it "huge, part of it state-of-the-art, part of it unconventional".

Israel fought an inconclusive war in Lebanon with Iranian-backed Hezbollah in 2006. Its aircraft then faced little threat, though its navy was taken aback when a cruise missile hit a ship off the Lebanese coast. Israeli tanks suffered losses to rockets and commanders are concerned Hezbollah may get better weaponry.

Israeli jets regularly enter Lebanese airspace, but its forces have been more discreet about Syrian incursions.

Israel's bombing of a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, though revealed by then U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, is still not formally acknowledged by the Israelis.

According to Bush, then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought to keep the matter quiet so as to reduce the risk of Assad feeling public pressure to retaliate. Syria and Israel are technically at war but have not exchanged fire in a significant way in decades.

A U.N. force sits on the line, north of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where a ceasefire ended their last war in 1973.

Israeli media reported this week that the country's national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, was sent to Russia and its military intelligence chief Major-General Aviv Kochavi to the United States for consultations.

Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London said that there are indications that Hezbollah is training near chemical weapons sites in Syria, with which the Shi'ite Lebanese militia has historically had a strong alliance.

"We also know that (Syria's) use of tactical ballistic missiles has been escalating - presumably as air power becomes harder to use in contested areas, and rebels seize larger targets like bases that are amenable to missile attack," he said.

Worries about Syria and Hezbollah have sent Israelis lining up for government-issued gas masks. According to the Israel post office, which is handling distribution of the kits, demand roughly trebled this week.

"It looks like every kind of discourse on this or that security matter contributes to public vigilance," its deputy director Haim Azaki told Israel's Army Radio. "We have really seen a very significant jump in demand."

(Reporting by Myra MacDonald; Writing by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Related Stories

Search NewsDaily

Number of stories in archives: 2,855

---

Source: http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre90t0k1-us-syria-israel-attack/

ocean city maryland Nexus 7 KDKA Pumpkin Carving Ideas Hurricane Sandy path opm daylight savings

Prehistoric humans not wiped out by comet, says researchers

Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Tanya Gubbay
tanya.gubbay@rhul.ac.uk
Royal Holloway, University of London

Comet explosions did not end the prehistoric human culture, known as Clovis, in North America 13,000 years ago, according to research published in the journal Geophysical Monograph Series.

Researchers from Royal Holloway university, together with Sandia National Laboratories and 13 other universities across the United States and Europe, have found evidence which rebuts the belief that a large impact or airburst caused a significant and abrupt change to the Earth's climate and terminated the Clovis culture. They argue that other explanations must be found for the apparent disappearance.

Clovis is the name archaeologists have given to the earliest well-established human culture in the North American continent. It is named after the town in New Mexico, where distinct stone tools were found in the 1920s and 1930s.

Researchers argue that no appropriately sized impact craters from that time period have been discovered, and no shocked material or any other features of impact have been found in sediments. They also found that samples presented in support of the impact hypothesis were contaminated with modern material and that no physics model can support the theory.

"The theory has reached zombie status," said Professor Andrew Scott from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway. "Whenever we are able to show flaws and think it is dead, it reappears with new, equally unsatisfactory, arguments.

"Hopefully new versions of the theory will be more carefully examined before they are published".

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Tanya Gubbay
tanya.gubbay@rhul.ac.uk
Royal Holloway, University of London

Comet explosions did not end the prehistoric human culture, known as Clovis, in North America 13,000 years ago, according to research published in the journal Geophysical Monograph Series.

Researchers from Royal Holloway university, together with Sandia National Laboratories and 13 other universities across the United States and Europe, have found evidence which rebuts the belief that a large impact or airburst caused a significant and abrupt change to the Earth's climate and terminated the Clovis culture. They argue that other explanations must be found for the apparent disappearance.

Clovis is the name archaeologists have given to the earliest well-established human culture in the North American continent. It is named after the town in New Mexico, where distinct stone tools were found in the 1920s and 1930s.

Researchers argue that no appropriately sized impact craters from that time period have been discovered, and no shocked material or any other features of impact have been found in sediments. They also found that samples presented in support of the impact hypothesis were contaminated with modern material and that no physics model can support the theory.

"The theory has reached zombie status," said Professor Andrew Scott from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway. "Whenever we are able to show flaws and think it is dead, it reappears with new, equally unsatisfactory, arguments.

"Hopefully new versions of the theory will be more carefully examined before they are published".

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/rhuo-phn013013.php

lauren scruggs william shatner seattle weather skier sarah burke gingrich wife cheryl burke sarah burke

Peer pressure trumps 'thin' ideals in the media

Jan. 30, 2013 ? Peers exert a greater influence on teenage girls' dissatisfaction with their bodies than do thin ideals in television or social media use, according to new research by Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson and colleagues from Texas A & M International University in the U.S. Their study is published online in Springer's Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

The influence of the media on body image, life satisfaction, and symptoms of eating disorders in teenage girls is a hot debate. Some experts believe that media influences on body dissatisfaction may extend to symptoms of eating disorders. Others contend that the link between media exposure and body image is inconsistent. Ferguson and his team's work shed light on this debate, by comparing the effects of peers and the media on girls' body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and life satisfaction in general.To assess exposure to thin ideals in the media, the researchers asked 237 young Hispanic girls, aged 10 to 17 years, to name their 3 favorite television shows and to rate the attractiveness of the female actresses in those shows.

They also assessed their body weight and height, whether or not they had feelings of inferiority in response to other girls (peer competition), and how often they used social media. The girls were then asked about how they felt about their bodies, whether they had any eating disorder symptoms, and how satisfied they were, overall, with their lives. Six months later, the researchers repeated these measures in 101 teen girls from the initial group.On the whole, neither television exposure to thin ideals nor social media use predicted body dissatisfaction, whereas peer competition did. Similarly, television exposure and social media use did not predict eating disorder symptoms.

Peer competition predicted eating disorder symptoms long-term, though not in the short term. Interestingly, both peer competition and social media use predicted lower life satisfaction.

The authors conclude, "Our results suggest that only peer competition, not television or social media use, predict negative outcomes for body image. This suggests that peer competition is more salient to body and eating issues in teenage girls. However, social media use may provide a new arena for peer competition, even if it does not directly influence negative body outcomes."

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 Springer Science+Business Media.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Christopher J. Ferguson, M?nica E. Mu?oz, Adolfo Garza, Mariza Galindo. Concurrent and Prospective Analyses of Peer, Television and Social Media Influences on Body Dissatisfaction, Eating Disorder Symptoms and Life Satisfaction in Adolescent Girls. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2013; DOI: 10.1007/s10964-012-9898-9

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/most_popular/~3/7X4HbsMbnKA/130130143628.htm

joey votto the masters live mega millions winner holy thursday chris stewart evo 4g lte marlins new stadium

Econoclaste ? Finding the Right Restaurant Equipment

Owning a restaurant is a high stakes business these days. This is in part to whatever food trend is going on at the moment. So you have to have the right food in the right location and have the right equipment and supplies you need to get your restaurant business off the ground and keep it going for a long time. Here you will find information about the supplies and restaurant equipment in Charlotte, NC, that you will need.

Right Stuff

As previously indicated, when opening a restaurant you need to make sure that you have the right equipment to get started and more importantly none of the equipment that you don?t need. Buying unnecessary items can cost you in many ways and can make or break the bank in the long run. Often people go to suppliers with a list of the things they think they need to run their restaurant. More often they have it correct, but many suppliers can assist you in finding what you actually will need to get your restaurant up and running and cut out what you don?t need.

Dinning

Depending on the type of restaurant that you are opening as well as the class of restaurant will make a difference in the type of dining supplies you need. If you are looking to open a mom and pop style diner, you can go with the standard dinner and flatware that is durable and low cost. If you are opening something with finer dinning then you need dining supplies that are a little more high-end, and you may want something that is unique to the style of restaurant that you are looking to open.

Kitchen Area

When it comes to the kitchen area there are several variables to consider when looking for kitchen supplies and equipment. Several questions that companies that supply restaurant equipment in Charlotte, NC, might ask will help you determine what you might need. First is how large of a restaurant are you opening? What kind of food will you be serving? There are of course a few more but this will get the ball rolling. If you restaurant is a larger one, then you may want to consider larger fridge, multi-burner cook tops, and larger ovens. This may also increase the number of other things like the number of pots, pans, and cooking utensils. If it a smaller restaurant then the opposite may be the answer. The type of food will affect the different types of equipment and cook ware that you might need as well.

Source: http://www.econoclaste.org/finding-the-right-restaurant-equipment/

john carlson greg smith catamount mike dantoni bulls heat goldman sachs brandon carr

Massachusetts governor names former aide to fill Kerry's Senate seat

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Wednesday named his former chief of staff, William Cowan, to fill temporarily the U.S. Senate seat that John Kerry will vacate this week.

The Democratic appointee told reporters he had no plans to run in the June 25 special election to choose a permanent successor to Kerry.

"I'm going down in this temporary period to continue the good work that Senator Kerry and his team has been doing," said Cowan, 43, a former civil rights lawyer with the Boston firm Mintz, Levin. "Senator Kerry has worked in close partnership with Governor Patrick and so you can expect me to do the same."

Cowan will become the second African-American in the current Senate, a distinction that Patrick, who is Massachusetts' first black governor, said influenced his choice.

"The commonwealth and the country is changing," Patrick told reporters. "To the extent that we can reflect that and encourage little boys and girls of color, or who are poor, or who grew up in marginalized circumstances, to imagine what it might be like to serve the public in these ways, I think that's a great thing."

In choosing the married father of two boys, who goes by the nickname "Mo," Patrick passed over recently retired U.S. Representative Barney Frank, who had publicly said he wanted the job.

Cowan's appointment maintains the Democrats' 53 seats in the Senate. Republicans hold 45 and there are 2 independents.

Kerry was approved by the Senate on Tuesday to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Democrat Elizabeth Warren, elected in 2012, now becomes Massachusetts' senior senator.

"I look forward to working closely with him to protect the interests of Massachusetts families," Warren said of Cowan.

With Kerry's departure from a seat he held since 1985, Massachusetts loses much of its seniority in the Senate. Kerry served for almost a quarter century before the death of Edward M. Kennedy in 2009 made him Massachusetts' senior senator. Kennedy had held his seat for 47 years.

Cowan, who joined the Patrick administration in 2009, left late last year to return to the private sector.

While he kept a low profile in the administration, one former lawmaker said Cowan stood out for a calm but persuasive demeanor.

"We had people in our office yelling, screaming, demanding what would be in a bill or out of a bill ... Mo argued on the merits and was not confrontational," said Steven Baddour, a Democrat who served in the state senate from 2002 through 2012.

CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF

The state now faces a five-month Senate campaign in which so far only one high-profile Democrat, Representative Edward Markey, has announced his candidacy.

However, fellow Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch said early this month he is "giving serious consideration" to running for the seat. If Lynch enters the race, he would face Markey and any other rivals in an April 30 primary.

On the Republican side, all eyes are on former Senator Scott Brown, who has maintained a low profile since losing his re-election bid to Warren.

Brown stunned the state's liberal establishment in 2010 when he won a special election to fill Kennedy's former seat, becoming Massachusetts's first Republican senator in three decades.

After Markey declared his interest in the office late last year, he quickly banked a number of endorsements from prominent Democrats including Kerry, Victoria Kennedy, wife of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, and state Attorney General Martha Coakley, who was defeated by Brown in 2010.

Following Wednesday's announcement, Frank endorsed Markey as well.

Some observers described Markey's quick mustering of these endorsements as an effort to head off a primary challenge, though Patrick and state Democratic party officials said they wanted to see a competitive primary.

(Editing by Jackie Frank and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/massachusetts-governor-patrick-names-william-cowan-senate-local-150416647.html

charlton heston moses tulsa shooting doug fister rick warren the perfect storm hard boiled eggs

PFT: Eagles' unlikely to decide on Vick soon

AP

We mentioned earlier today that 49ers wide receiver Randy Moss declared himself the best wideout in the history of the game.

You?ll likely see much more about him in the coming days, in many outlets, because he was so open and forthcoming and illuminating about many topics during his appearance at Media Day.

When Moss is on, he?s extremely interesting, he just chooses not to be on often.

But among the gems today was a candid admission that he didn?t particularly care for the way the 49ers used him this year.

In the past, it could have been a Keyshawn-level ?Just Give Me the Damn Ball? routine, but Moss said it so matter-of-factly it was easy to miss.

?I don?t like my role; I don?t,? he said. ?I like to be out there playing football. One thing that I?ve always had to really understand was being a decoy. It was put to me, Coach Dennis Green just said, ?Even though the football is not in your hand, you?re still out there dictating how the defense is playing the offense.? It took me awhile to really understand where he was coming from. Later on and now in my career, I understand that my presence out on the field, I don?t always have to touch the ball to be able to help the offense score touchdowns.

?Like I said, I don?t really like that, but it?s something that I?m used to. I have to grow to understand and grow to like it. I?ve always been a team player. I?ve never been about self. Anything that is going to push our team to victory and hopefully win a Super Bowl, I?m willing to do.?

No, that was Moss, who hasn?t always been accused to giving freely of himself for the greater good.

But 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said Moss had been nothing but professional.

?He?s been great,? Roman said. ?I think he?s a great team player, and a mentor for all the guys, really.?

His love of competition has never been in doubt. Moss joked about past arguments, even fights, he?s had with coaches and players. But his role with the 49ers, as much as he might not like it, remains a valuable one, as Roman insisted Moss could still ?get behind a defense in a hurry.?

?When I hear people talk about how talented I am and how easy I make it look, I can honestly tell you people that it?s very hard work,? Moss said. ?I work out five times a week. I put the work in and for me to be able to go out there and have results it something I am proud of. It?s not always the individual results that I?m proud of. For me to be able to talk to a Michael Crabtree or talk to a Frank Gore or Percy Harvin and for them to go out there and have a good game that week, that?s something I can be proud of. That?s just me giving back to the NFL.

?I?ve always said, I don?t like what the NFL does for me because I?m very blessed. My family is blessed. I?ve always been the type of person to know what I can do to make the League better. At this point in my career, if I?m able to be vocal, to share a little knowledge and also to go out there and play, if that?s what it takes to win a championship, then I?m willing to do that. I?ve always been that way.?

Maybe so, but he hasn?t been quite the way he was Tuesday too often, or the perception of his career would likely be very different.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/29/decision-on-michael-vick-likely-not-coming-soon/related/

new york knicks president day lin j.r. smith espn jeremy lin sleigh bells meek

Underworld boss shot outside Bulgarian courthouse

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) ? A convicted underworld boss was shot and seriously wounded in broad daylight outside a courthouse in Bulgaria's capital on Tuesday, sending panicked people on a busy downtown street scrambling for cover.

The shooter or shooters opened fire at around 9:30 a.m., probably from an apartment building across the street from the Sofia Courthouse, police said. Minutes after the shooting, a fire broke out at the top floor of the building, suggesting that the assailant or assailants may have set a fire to hide their tracks.

Zlatomir Ivanov and one of his bodyguards were both hit as they walked up the stairs to enter the court for an appeals hearing. The bodyguard managed to return fire but was wounded in the leg. Police said Ivanov was undergoing surgery after suffering four gunshot wounds in his legs, arm and stomach.

Ivanov, 44, was sentenced last year to eight years in prison after being convicted of leading an organized criminal group engaging in illegal drugs trade. He appealed the sentence and has been under house arrest since then to recuperate from earlier surgery.

Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, a former top cop, said that "the site gives easy access for a shooting," and added that if Ivanov had been in custody, he would have had protection.

"I have always claimed that persons who have first been sentenced will be much healthier if they stay in custody," Borisov said while addressing a meeting of businessmen at a hotel near the shooting site.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that "such a brutal act of violence ... in an area of major state institutions and public buildings in a way threatening the life and health of many citizens is a matter of serious worry and concern."

Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in 2007, is still under pressure from Brussels to erase deep-rooted corruption and organized crime that has plagued the country more than two decades after it shook off communism.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/underworld-boss-shot-outside-bulgarian-courthouse-145141455.html

trisomy 18 ozzie guillen ozzie guillen buster posey eric holder eric holder carole king

95 YC ? Real Estate Property Management

Working with a property management company can be a great resource for owners of residential, commercial, or industrial properties. Property management works the same as management in any other field by overseeing the care and financial needs for any property. They work to find quality tenants who respect and care for the property and always pay on time. We will act as a liaison between the owner and the tenant alleviating the burden of busy owners. Hiring a reputable property management company can make the real estate process simple. Our managers have the skills and knowledge to make your ownership experience simple and painless. Take comfort in the knowledge that we will treat your real estate as if it were our own. Residential Property Management Taylorsville

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Source: http://www.95yc.com/real-estate-property-management/

belize adele lyrics best new artist 2012 grammys foo fighters nikki minaj grammys

Reports: Exit locked at burned Bangladesh factory

AAA??Jan. 27, 2013?2:40 AM ET
Reports: Exit locked at burned Bangladesh factory
By FARID HOSSAINBy FARID HOSSAIN, Associated Press??

Smoke rises from a two-storied garment factory after a fire swept through it in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan.26, 2013. The fire swept killed at least six female workers and injured another five, police and fire officials said. The latest fire occurred more than two months after a deadly fire killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital city, raising questions about the safety measures in Bangladesh garment industry. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

Smoke rises from a two-storied garment factory after a fire swept through it in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan.26, 2013. The fire swept killed at least six female workers and injured another five, police and fire officials said. The latest fire occurred more than two months after a deadly fire killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital city, raising questions about the safety measures in Bangladesh garment industry. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

Bangladeshi firefighters and volunteers work to douse a fire at a two-storied garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan.26, 2013. The fire killed at least six female workers and injured another five, police and fire officials said. The latest fire occurred more than two months after a deadly fire killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital city, raising questions about the safety measures in Bangladesh garment industry. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

A Bangladeshi worker walks inside a two-storied garment factory that caught fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan.26, 2013. The fire swept killed at least six female workers and injured another five, police and fire officials said. The latest fire occurred more than two months after a deadly fire killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital city, raising questions about the safety measures in Bangladesh garment industry. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

A Bangladeshi climbs a wall to get to the roof of a two-storied garment factory that caught fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. The fire swept killed at least six female workers and injured another five, police and fire officials said. The latest fire occurred more than two months after a deadly fire killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital city, raising questions about the safety measures in Bangladesh garment industry. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

Bangladeshi firefighters and volunteers work to douse a fire at a two-storied garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. The fire swept killed at least six female workers and injured another five, police and fire officials said. The latest fire occurred more than two months after a deadly fire killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital city, raising questions about the safety measures in Bangladesh garment industry. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? An official says Bangladesh's government has ordered an investigation into allegations that the sole emergency exit was locked at a garment factory where a weekend fire killed seven female workers.

The fire Saturday at the Smart Export Garment Ltd. factory occurred just two months after a blaze killed 112 workers in another factory near the capital, raising questions about safety in Bangladesh's garment industry, which exports clothes to leading Western retailers. The gates of that factory were locked.

Government official Jahangir Kabir Nanak says an investigation has been ordered into the cause of Saturday's fire and allegations that the emergency exit was locked.

Doctors say most of the victims died from asphyxiation.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-27-Bangladesh-Factory%20Fire/id-9d702b9ff1d5407b9d7f6a217d720e82

Google Ryder Cup Standings Dexter Season 7 Ryder Cup 2012 Johnny Lewis yom kippur yom kippur

Russia set to start posthumous trial of whistleblower Magnitsky

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia prepared to put whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on trial more than three years after his death, with a preliminary hearing set for Monday in a move relatives and rights groups called politically motivated and a travesty of justice.

Magnitsky's death in a Moscow jail has harmed Russia's image abroad and badly strained relations with the United States.

His mother and her lawyer said they refused to participate.

"I think it is inhuman to try a dead man," Magnitsky's mother Natalya told Reuters by telephone. "This is not a court case but some kind of farce, and I will not take part in it."

Magnitsky was 37 when he died after 358 days in jail on suspicion of tax evasion and fraud, during which he said he was denied treatment as his health declined. The Kremlin's own human rights council aired suspicions he was beaten to death.

Russian authorities said he died of a heart attack, but his former employer, investment fund Hermitage Capital, says he was killed because he was investigating a $230 million theft by law enforcement and tax officials through fraudulent tax refunds.

Relatives and former colleagues including Hermitage owner William Browder, who also faces trial in absentia, say Magnitsky was investigated and jailed by some of the same mid-level officials he told authorities had defrauded the state.

Nobody has been convicted of any crime in connection with Magnitsky's death. One prison official was tried last year but prosecutors asked the court to clear him after Putin said Magnitsky had not been tortured, and the judge complied.

The case against Magnitsky is a different story. It was closed after he died, but authorities took the highly unusual step of reopening it in 2011, as international criticism of Russia over his death mounted.

"DANGEROUS PRECEDENT"

Prosecutors filed charges against Magnitsky and Browder last year, shortly before the United States adopted the Magnitsky Act - legislation imposing sanctions on Russians believed to be involved in his death or other grave human rights abuses.

Russia responded with a law that imposed similar measures in return and also barred Americans adopting Russian children, adding to tension that has increased since Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency last May.

Natalya Magnitskaya's lawyer, Nikolai Gorokhov, said it was illegal to prosecute a dead person in Russia unless requested by relatives seeking rehabilitation for their loved one.

He dismissed the trial as a politically motivated attempt to discredit Magnitsky and Browder and paint them as the criminals, rather than the Russian officials they have sought to expose.

"It's a dance on the grave of a dead man," Gorokhov said.

Browder, who lives in Britain, has also said he would not participate. He was one of the biggest Western investors in Russia but was barred from the country in 2005 as Hermitage found itself coming under increasing official pressure.

Judges use preliminary hearings to address procedural motions and set a trial date. If Magnitsky's relatives do not hire a lawyer to defend him, the court will appoint one, state-run news agency RIA reported.

Rights group Amnesty International said the planned trial of Magnitsky was an "attempt to deflect attention from those who committed the crimes he exposed."

It would set "a dangerous precedent that would open a whole new chapter in Russia's worsening human rights record," the group's regional director, John Dalhuisen, said in a statement.

(Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-set-start-posthumous-trial-whistleblower-magnitsky-232239846.html

meryl streep oscars school shooting ohio billy crystal oscar winners 2012 billy crystal oscars 2012 angelina jolie oscars chardon high school

BATS glitch affected far fewer trades than originally thought

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A systems error at U.S. stock market operator BATS Global Markets that led to a number of trades not being executed at the best possible price over a four-year period, was not as wide-spread as originally thought, BATS said on Friday.

The coding problem led to around 12,000 transactions being executed at prices that were not the best available, in violation of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, not the more than 440,000 transactions that BATS had originally disclosed earlier this month, a spokesman said.

The actual cost to BATS customers was around $17,000, not the around $420,000 originally thought, spokesman Randy Williams added.

BATS, which is the third-largest U.S. stock exchange by volume, behind NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group , also said it successfully deployed a fix for the problem on Friday.

The problem had existed from the time BATS became an exchange in 2008, and was difficult to detect because the transactions in question were a small fraction of the 12.1 billion trades on BATS options and equities markets during the time frame, BATS said earlier in January.

BATS discovered the problem in a routine self-audit of its data and self reported it.

(Reporting By John McCrank; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bats-glitch-affected-far-fewer-trades-originally-thought-183136267--sector.html

mega millions results louisville lotto numbers susan powell megamillions winners university of louisville louisville ky

Senate OKs modest restrictions on filibusters

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The tradition-laden Senate voted Thursday to modestly curb filibusters, using a bipartisan consensus rare in today's hyper-partisan climate to make it a bit harder but not impossible for outnumbered senators to sink bills and nominations.

The rules changes would reduce yet not eliminate the number of times opponents ? usually minority-party Republicans these days ? can use filibusters, procedural tactics which can derail legislation and which can be stopped only by the votes of 60 of the 100 senators.

In return, the majority party ? Democrats today ? would have to allow two minority amendments on bills, a response to Republican complaints that Democrats often prevent them from offering any amendments at all. The new procedures also would limit the time spent debating some bills and nominations, allowing some to be completed in hours that could otherwise take a day or more.

The changes were broken into two pieces and approved by votes of 78-16 and 86-9. In both roll calls, Republican opponents were joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who usually sides with Democrats. Many of the GOP "no" votes came from tea party-backed senators like Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

The two votes and a brief debate took less than an hour, impressively quick for the Senate. They came after a more typical day that featured a sprinkling of senators' speeches and long periods when the Senate chamber idled with no one talking, while private negotiations off the floor nailed down final details.

President Barack Obama said the Senate action would help his agenda in Congress.

"At a time when we face critical decisions on a whole range of issues ? from preventing further gun violence, to reforming our broken immigration system, to getting our fiscal house in order and creating good paying jobs ? we cannot afford unnecessary obstruction. And I am hopeful that today's bipartisan agreement will pave the way for the Senate to take meaningful action in the days and weeks ahead," Obama said in a written statement.

The pact leaves the Senate's minority party with far more power than it has in the House, where rules let a united majority party easily muscle through its priorities. It also falls short of changes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had been threatening to ram through using the 55 votes Democrats have, a technique nicknamed the "nuclear option" because it is considered likely to produce harsh GOP retaliation that could grind work to a virtual halt.

"I'm glad cooler heads have prevailed here once again, and those who were clamoring for the nuclear option, most of whom have never served a day of their lives in the minority, didn't prevail," said McConnell, who worked out the agreement with Reid. He added that Republicans felt rules changes were not needed, merely a willingness by both parties to allow "vigorous debate and a robust amendment process."

Reid said the changes would increase Senate efficiency while protecting lawmakers in the minority party, warning that he would consider future changes if Thursday's package didn't do enough.

"We were elected to get things done for the middle class ? not waste time with endless stalling tactics that cause even bills with broad bipartisan support to languish for weeks," Reid said.

Democrats say Republican use of filibusters has become almost routine and far too frequent. Republicans say they use it because Reid often blocks them from offering amendments.

The rules also don't go nearly as far as restrictions championed by a group of newer Democratic senators, such as requiring filibustering senators to physically debate on the Senate floor, as portrayed by the actor Jimmy Stewart in the classic 1939 film, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Such filibusters have been rare for decades.

Democrats said this week that they lacked the votes to force that proposal through the Senate.

Even so, the agreement was remarkable in a period of bitter partisan clashes over Obama's budgetary, tax and social initiatives and GOP efforts to block them. It will streamline some of the Senate's work and avoid what could have been prolonged, nasty battling between the two parties if Democrats ? frustrated by the GOP's growing reliance on the delays ? tried forcing more decisive changes.

The deal gave each side something it wanted: Quicker action for Democrats, guaranteed amendments for Republicans. And it avoided clamping tight limits on filibusters that would alienate veteran lawmakers wary that their party could fall into the minority after any election.

Months ago, Reid said he favored completely banning filibusters when the Senate tries to begin debating a measure, a tactic Republicans have been using more in recent years. He threatened to use Democrats' strength in the Senate to enact that change and perhaps others by a simple majority vote, instead of the two-thirds majority most rules changes require.

Tight restraints on filibusters were championed by less-senior Democrats like Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Tom Udall, D-N.M. They are frustrated with the chamber's often glacial debates and the ability of the minority ? these days Republicans ? to kill bills with less than majority support.

"Are they everything I want? Of course not," Udall said in an interview. But he said the Senate is "moving in the right direction. With these changes, it will make this a more efficient institution."

The liberal group Common Cause, which has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the filibuster, criticized Reid for the agreement, saying the senator "has gone missing in the fight for filibuster reform."

As part of the agreement, filibusters could be avoided when the Senate tries beginning debate on legislation. In return, the majority leader would have to allow each party to offer at least two amendments ? addressing a major complaint of Republicans that their amendments are often shut out.

In addition, once the Senate votes to limit debate on certain nominations ? district court judges and administration posts below Cabinet level ? the debate would be limited to two hours, far below the 30 hours now allowed. The proposal was aimed at speeding the time spent on such nominations.

In addition, instead of three separate opportunities for opponents of a bill to wage filibusters to block a Senate vote allowing the chamber to try writing compromise legislation with the House, there would only be one such filibuster allowed.

According to the Senate Historian's Office, there were 73 "cloture" votes to end filibusters in the two-year Congress that ended earlier this month. There were 91 such votes in the Congress that served in the two previous years, and 112 in the two-year Congress before that. Republicans were the Senate minority party in each of those Congresses.

Those are the three highest number of cloture votes in any Congress since the Senate started allowing such votes to end filibusters nearly 100 years ago.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Abrams, Stephen Ohlemacher, Andrew Taylor and David Espo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-oks-modest-restrictions-filibusters-014052014--politics.html

google april fools office space shell houston open mega millions winners anthony davis palm sunday toure

SFJazz Center opens, bringing swing to West Coast

The San Francisco Bourbon Kings perform on the red carpet before the opening night concert of the SFJAZZ Center Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Francisco. The 700-seat, specially designed concert hall nestled in the heart of the city's arts district attracted a crowd of hundreds with a high-energy, inaugural celebration emceed by Bill Cosby. Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city's jazz festival. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

The San Francisco Bourbon Kings perform on the red carpet before the opening night concert of the SFJAZZ Center Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Francisco. The 700-seat, specially designed concert hall nestled in the heart of the city's arts district attracted a crowd of hundreds with a high-energy, inaugural celebration emceed by Bill Cosby. Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city's jazz festival. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Bill Cosby, right, jokes with Regina Carter about her violin during the opening night concert of the SFJAZZ Center Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Francisco. The 700-seat, specially designed concert hall nestled in the heart of the city's arts district attracted a crowd of hundreds with a high-energy, inaugural celebration emceed by Bill Cosby. Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city's jazz festival. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Mary Stallings sings "I Love Being Here With You," during the opening night concert of the SFJAZZ Center Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Francisco. The 700-seat, specially designed concert hall nestled in the heart of the city's arts district attracted a crowd of hundreds with a high-energy, inaugural celebration emceed by Bill Cosby. Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city's jazz festival. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Chick Corea, left, greets guitarist Bill Frisell before they performed together during the opening night concert of the SFJAZZ Center Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Francisco. The 700-seat, specially designed concert hall nestled in the heart of the city's arts district attracted a crowd of hundreds with a high-energy, inaugural celebration emceed by Bill Cosby. Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city's jazz festival. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Saxophonists Joshua Redman, left, and Joe Lovano, right, perform during the opening night concert of the SFJAZZ Center Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 in San Francisco. The 700-seat, specially designed concert hall nestled in the heart of the city's arts district attracted a crowd of hundreds with a high-energy, inaugural celebration emceed by Bill Cosby. Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city's jazz festival. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Full of shimmer and swing, San Francisco's sleek new jazz concert hall opened Wednesday night with an opening night gala featuring McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea and Esperanza Spalding aimed at cementing respect for and expanding the reach of the jazz idiom on the West Coast.

The 700-seat, specially designed concert hall nestled in the heart of the city's arts district was brightly lit amid a light rain and attracted a crowd of hundreds with a high-energy, inaugural celebration emceed by Bill Cosby.

Cosby played percussion during the night's first number, along with several others including Oakland percussionist John Santos.

"This is just fabulous, it's a tremendous opportunity for everyone here," Santos said.

Billed as the first freestanding building in the West built for jazz performance and education, the center opened Wednesday after raising more than $60 million over more than a decade to build a home for SFJAZZ, the nonprofit that puts on the city's jazz festival.

A building that stood opposite the hall was decked out with giant black-and-white photographs of jazz greats.

"This is the revival of the jazz scene in San Francisco," said attorney and attendee Kirk Boyd.

After three decades of renting trucks to drop off pianos and drums for gigs at outside venues, spokesman Marshall Lamm said the organization was delighted to open a permanent home, which soon will boast a New Orleans-style cafe and cocktail lounge led by The Slanted Door's Charles Phan.

"It's just not like someone inherited some money and they built a building," said San Francisco bassist, jazz composer and bandleader Marcus Shelby. "This a concept and idea and practice that has been developed for decades and this building is the result of all of that hard work to give the West Coast a venue that has to be respected."

Wednesday, the show drew celebrities including Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Amy Tan, former Secretary of State George Shultz and hundreds of other jazz aficionados.

The venue will need to play multiple, distinct roles: attract exclusive, high-level performers, support local musicians and school groups such as the SFJazz High School All-Stars and celebrate the legacy of the city's Fillmore District.

A half-century ago, hundreds of black-owned businesses including jazz and blues nightclubs thrived in the Fillmore, then nicknamed "Harlem of the West." After the government decreed the area blighted, wrecking balls erased many such hotspots and forced thousands of people from the neighborhood through eminent domain. After a decades-long urban renewal project by the federal and local governments, the Fillmore was reshaped ? and gradually jazz clubs have started coming back.

None, organizers say, will have the weight and promise of SFJAZZ Center, whose acoustics are custom designed to showcase the sound coming off the stage and enhance the listener's experience.

"For the musicians to flow, it requires a stage where you can hear very clearly, " said Sam Berkow, who designed the acoustics and sound system for SFJAZZ Center as well as Jazz at Lincoln Center. "For the audience watching the band, with seating around the stage you'll get that collective sense of the listening experience, which is important when musicians are not just playing a chart but offering a solo in response to the crowd's energy."

___

Follow Garance Burke on Twitter at (at)garanceburke

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-24-SF%20Jazz%20Center/id-2a66b4dbff474ba085de8a438be0f06d

convulsions john tyler chuck elisabeth hasselbeck fran drescher scarlett o hara pat sajak

Envoy: SKorea's Park open to dialogue with NKorea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? South Korea's new president will not tolerate North Korean provocations but will continue to push for dialogue with Pyongyang, a special envoy to President-elect Park Geun-hye said just hours after the North's top governing body declared it would continue atomic tests and rocket launches.

Park is strongly urging North Korea to refrain from conducting a nuclear test that could only worsen the tensions on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of a provocative long-range rocket launch in December, envoy Rhee In-je told The Associated Press and selected news outlets in Davos, Switzerland.

"President-elect Park makes it clear that North Korea's nuclear ambitions and further provocations against the South will not be tolerated," Rhee said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Thursday. "In particular, she strongly urges North Korea to refrain from further worsening the situation by conducting a third nuclear test."

North Korea responded Friday by warning South Korea of "strong physical countermeasures" if Seoul takes part in U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing Pyongyang for the rocket launch.

"Sanctions mean war and a declaration of war against us," the Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland said in a statement carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.

The latest warning comes in the wake of a U.N. Security Council decision Tuesday to condemn North Korea's Dec. 12 rocket launch as a violation of a ban against missile activity. The council, including Pyongyang ally China, also expanded sanctions against the regime.

North Korea's National Defense Commission responded by declaring that the regime is prepared to conduct a nuclear test in defiance of U.N. punishment, and it made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States.

The commission, North Korea's top governing body led by leader Kim Jong Un, pledged Thursday to keep launching satellites and rockets and to conduct a nuclear test as part of a "new phase" of combat with the United States, which it blames for leading the U.N. bid to punish Pyongyang. It said a nuclear test was part of "upcoming" action but did not say exactly when or where it would take place.

"We do not hide that a variety of satellites and long-range rockets which will be launched by the DPRK one after another and a nuclear test of higher level which will be carried out by it in the upcoming all-out action, a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century, will target against the U.S., the sworn enemy of the Korean people," the commission said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he has seen no outward sign that North Korea will follow through soon on its plan to conduct a test. But that doesn't mean preparations aren't taking place.

"They have the capability, frankly, to conduct these tests in a way that make it very difficult to determine whether or not they are doing it," Panetta told reporters in Washington.

North Korea claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, its Korean War foe.

Their bitter three-year war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953, and left the Korean Peninsula divided by the world's most heavily fortified demilitarized zone. The U.S. leads the U.N. Command that governs the truce and stations more than 28,000 troops in ally South Korea, a presence that North Korea cites as a key reason for its drive to build nuclear weapons.

North Korea is estimated to have stored up enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to scientist Siegfried Hecker, who visited the North's Nyongbyon nuclear complex in 2010.

In October, an unidentified spokesman at the National Defense Commission claimed that the U.S. mainland was within missile range. And at a military parade last April, North Korea showed off what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In 2009, Pyongyang declared that it would begin enriching uranium, which would give North Korea a second way to make atomic weapons.

The National Defense Commission's allusion to a "higher level" nuclear test most likely refers to a device made from highly enriched uranium, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. Experts say North Korea must keep testing its atomic devices so it can make them small enough to mount as nuclear warheads onto long-range missiles.

North Korea tested atomic devices in 2006 and 2009 after receiving U.N. condemnation for launching long-range rockets.

The U.S. envoy on North Korean issues, Glyn Davies, urged Pyongyang not to explode an atomic device.

"Whether North Korea tests or not, it's up to North Korea. We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it," he told reporters in Seoul after meeting Thursday with South Korean officials. "It will be a mistake and a missed opportunity if they were to do it."

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday said North Korea's aggressive stance is unnecessary and warned against any further testing.

"North Korea's statement is needlessly provocative and a test would be a significant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," he said. "Further provocation would only increase Pyongyang's isolation, and its continued focus on its nuclear and missile program is doing nothing to help the North Korean people."

He said the recent U.N. resolution is a "strong message of the international community's opposition to North Korean provocations and these tightened sanctions will impede the growth of weapons of mass destruction programs in North Korea and the United States will be taking additional steps in that regard."

Carney did not elaborate on what those steps might be.

Despite her firm stand, Park, who takes office next month, wants to leave the window open to constructive dialogue with Pyongyang and will continue to provide food and medical aid as part of a "trust-building" policy for the two Koreas, envoy Rhee said.

"It is a gradual process based on mutual trust and respect, which can begin with keeping promises," he said.

She also advocates returning to the six-nation disarmament negotiations, Rhee said. North Korea walked away from those talks in 2009 and has said future disarmament talks are out off the table.

___

Associated Press writers Sandy MacIntyre in Davos, Switzerland; Jean H. Lee in Seoul and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea bureau chief at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/envoy-skoreas-park-open-dialogue-nkorea-022346592.html

Diwali elmo nascar Kevin Clash Walmart Black Friday 2012 Paula Broadwell Tilted Kilt

Linda Pugach, blinded in infamous NYC crime, dies (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279222036?client_source=feed&format=rss

wichita brian wilson storm chasers david blaine gotye divine mercy cabin in the woods

Clinton Defends Libya Response (WSJ)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/278992189?client_source=feed&format=rss

bks new dark knight rises trailer khloe and lamar oklahoma city thunder rajon rondo sunoco titanic ii

US begins transporting French troops to Mali

DJENNE, Mali (AP) ? Pentagon officials say the U.S. airlift of French forces to Bamako could continue for another two weeks.

It's expected to take about 30 C-17 flights to get everything there.

The U.S. Air Force is keeping between eight and 10 people at the airport to help with the incoming and outgoing flights.

These are the U.S. Air Force personnel who will stay only until the airlift is completed.

The U.S. Air Force already has flown five C-17 flights into Bamako, delivering more than 80 French troops and 124 tons of equipment.

The U.S. is not providing direct aid to the Malian military because the democratically elected government was overthrown last March in a coup.

The French-led operation to oust Islamic extremists from northern Mali began Jan. 11.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-begins-transporting-french-troops-mali-140606472.html

dianna agron million hoodie march tebow trade mike the situation jacksonville jaguars jacksonville jaguars benjarvus green ellis

Farm double payments clear hurdle

23 January 2013 Last updated at 14:48 ET By Roger Harrabin Environment analyst

Farmers could be paid twice for measures to protect the environment under a European Parliament deal.

The Agriculture Committee agreed that EU rules forbidding double payments should be waived to help farmers.

Green campaigners say the vote is a scandal and must be over-turned by the full Parliament and member states.

The motion was passed because many MEPs want to shield farmers? incomes from the Commission's planned reform of the costly Common Agricultural Policy.

At the moment farmers get paid on average 200 euros a hectare in direct payments from taxpayers for doing little more than owning land.

If they want to be paid more they can opt for an extra green payment to help wildlife. It is under a different section of the budget and gains a further 80 euros.

With critics of the EU clamouring to end farm hand-outs, the Commission says farmers should earn a third of their direct payments by farming in a way that benefits the environment.

The committee agrees to that reform of direct payments. It means that all farmers will have to ?green? their activities to get full direct payment.

But the MEPs insisted that farmers who are already gaining extra payments for green activities should be entitled to keep them ? on top of the money they will get from the direct payment - but without doing any more to earn the cash.

In other words, to be paid twice for the same thing.

Faustine Defossez, Agriculture Policy Officer at the European Environmental Bureau, said: "In times of austerity, when governments and citizens across Europe are tightening their purse strings, it is scandalous - not to mention illegal - to expect taxpayers to pay farmers twice."

She urged the full Parliament to over-turn the vote to prove they were representing people, not just farmers. She said a previous planned reform of the farm budget was much more fair.

Campaign group WWF said the committee?s vote was outrageous and would bring the EU into disrepute.

A source close to the negotiations told BBC News that over-turning the committee vote might prove difficult.

The UK government says the double-payment plan must be blocked. It is likely to face extreme pressure on the issue from Conservative back-benchers already angry with the Brussels budget.

Follow Roger on Twitter

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21171472#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

valentines day cards hallmark grammy winners obama budget woolly mammoth belize resorts nikki minaj grammy performance

Will seven of Oscar's nine best picture nominees cross the $100 million mark domestically?

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Should "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Silver Linings Playbook" hit $100 million at the domestic box office - and both have an outside shot - it will mean an astonishing seven movies nominated this year for the Best Picture Oscar will have achieved that feat.

Fox's "Life of Pi" on Monday joined four other Best Picture Oscar nominees in surpassing the $100 million standard at the domestic box office. "Lincoln" ($161 million), "Django Unchained ($139 million), "Les Mis?rables: ($131 million) and "Argo" ($115 million) already have done it and are all still in theaters.

And the number for "Pi" should get an asterisk; it's made nearly four times that much - $392 million - at the overseas box office.

That's quite a change from last year, when only one of the nine nominated films - "The Help" - was over $100 million by the night of the Academy Awards.

Both "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Silver Linings" are at about $60 million with a month to go before the February 24 Oscars, so it will take some breaks to get to the magic number.

"They'll both inch their way into that range," BoxOffice.com vice president and senior analyst Phil Contrino told TheWrap Wednesday. "Neither is a sure bet, but both have momentum and could do it."

"'Zero Dark Thirty' probably has the better chance, because of the controversy surrounding it, but 'Silver Linings Playbook' is a crowd-pleaser and built to last, kind of like 'The Descendants' last year." That family drama also was nominated for Best Picture and wound up with $82 million domestically.

Five nominated films hit the $100 million mark in both 2010 and 2009, the first year the Academy expanded the number of Best Picture nomination slots from five to 10. In 2010, it was "Toy Story 3," "Inception," "True Grit," "The King's Speech" and "Black Swan." In 2009, it was "Avatar," "Up," "The Blind Side" "Inglourious Basterds" and "District 9."

Of course, box-office success doesn't generally translate into Oscar success. In the past 10 years, "The Departed" in 2006 and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" in 2003 were the only winners that came in as the highest-grossing films.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seven-oscars-nine-best-picture-nominees-cross-100-225102870.html

harper lee mega millions numbers the fray seahawks new uniforms 2012 tornadoes in dallas anchorman 2 kentucky basketball