Honda sees sharp drop in profit on Thai floods (AP)

TOKYO ? Battered by the strong yen and supply disruptions from Thailand's floods, Honda said Tuesday that its net earnings in the October-December quarter tumbled 41 percent to 47.6 billion yen ($625 million) and projected a sharply lower full-year profit.

It's been a tough year for the Japanese automobile and motorcycle maker. Honda had just begun to recover from the March earthquake and tsunami, which damaged some of its suppliers, when Thailand's worst floods in 50 years swamped its vehicle assembly plant in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok.

That disaster dealt such a blow to Honda that it scrapped its earnings forecast when it last reported earnings results in October.

Now Honda predicts its net profit for the fiscal year through March would drop nearly 60 percent to 215 billion yen.

Honda Motor Co., which makes the Accord sedan and Odyssey minivan, stopped making cars at its Thai plant in October, and said in a statement Tuesday that it was making progress draining the factory and cleaning up equipment, and expected production to resume there at the end of March.

The flooding also disrupted the output at many Honda suppliers in Thailand, forcing it to reduce production as far away as the U.S. and Canada. Honda said production in neighboring Asian countries interrupted by the problems in Thailand was expected to return to normal by April.

All told, the problems related to flooding in Thailand have cost the company 260,000 vehicles in lost production worldwide, according to Tomohiro Okada, a company spokesman.

The company said it is working with the local industrial park to build water protection walls around the plant and will make requests of the Thai government to take steps to prevent the risk of flooding in the future. The Thai plant makes the Jazz, Civic, Accord, CR-V sports utility vehicle and other vehicles.

The Thai flooding affected many other Japanese companies, reflecting the increasingly interconnected nature of today's global economy. Toshiba Corp. on Tuesday cited the disaster as one reason behind the 10.6 billion yen net loss it reported for the most recent quarter.

A bright spot for Honda was its motorcycle business, which is booming in emerging markets. Motorcycle sales rose 6.3 percent during the quarter from the same quarter a year ago to nearly 3.1 million units.

Quarterly sales slid 8 percent during the fiscal third quarter to 1.942 trillion yen. The company projects full-year sales will decline 12.2 percent to 7.85 trillion yen.

The strong yen, which erodes exporters' foreign earned income when repatriated, also ate into the company's income.

Global vehicle sales in the quarter declined 2.9 percent from a year ago to 830,000 units, the company said. Vehicle sales in Japan rose 16 percent and North America increased 2 percent from the same quarter a year ago, while unit sales in Europe, Asia and other regions fell.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earns_honda

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Scherzinger, Jones not returning to 'X Factor'

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2011 file photo, host Steve Jones poses with judge Nicole Scherzinger at a world premiere screening event for the new television series, "The X Factor," in Los Angeles. Both Jones and Scherzinger will not be returning to the popular singing competition series for a second season. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2011 file photo, host Steve Jones poses with judge Nicole Scherzinger at a world premiere screening event for the new television series, "The X Factor," in Los Angeles. Both Jones and Scherzinger will not be returning to the popular singing competition series for a second season. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2011 file photo, television host Steve Jones poses on the red carpet at "The X Factor" Finale show in Los Angeles. Jones said on Twitter on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, that he wouldn?t be returning to host the show?s second season. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones are out at "The X Factor."

A Fox spokeswoman said Monday that the judge and host will not return for the show's second season. No other details were provided.

Jones, a British TV personality, called his departure "a shame" on Twitter and added that he couldn't complain, "as I've had a great time." He gave no reason why he wasn't returning to the singing contest.

Jones was originally slated to host "X Factor" alongside Scherzinger, who replaced British pop star Cheryl Cole as a judge when executive producer Simon Cowell and other producers had second thoughts about Cole joining the series.

Cowell, Paula Abdul and L.A. Reid served as the other judges on the show's first season.

Despite consistent viewership, "X Factor" has failed to achieve popularity similar to "American Idol," which Cowell left to import "X Factor" from the U.K. to the U.S.

A spokeswoman for Scherzinger did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The second season of "X Factor" is set to debut later this year.

___

AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang .

___

Online:

http://www.thexfactorusa.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-30-TV-X%20Factor-Jones-Scherzinger/id-9665ac8b23014256be649ed6f39a0179

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SAG Awards Fashion Face-Off: Kaley Cuoco vs. Shailene Woodley

It's a clash of stylish actresses from The Big Bang Theory vs. The Secret Life in THG's latest Fashion Face-Off from the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Every nerd's fantasy, Kaley Cuoco looked simply dazzling in her light blue gown, while Shailene Woodley, who branched out from her ABC Family hit to star alongside George Clooney in The Descendants, looked equally beautiful in a floral-patterned dress.

No one will really lose this Face-Off, but there can be only one winner, and it's up to you to pick it! Vote for the best dressed in our survey below!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/sag-awards-fashion-face-off-kaley-cuoco-vs-shailene-woodley/

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Castro defends one-party system as bulwalk against U.S. (Reuters)

HAVANA (Reuters) ? President Raul Castro defended Cuba's one-party political system as a bulwark against U.S. imperialism and said it would remain as it is in a speech on Sunday to a Communist Party conference.

He also said previously announced plans to put term limits on the country's leaders were not fully official, but could gradually go ahead.

This weekend's conference, which is the first in the party's history, came amid wide-ranging reforms that have given Cubans the right to open small businesses and to buy and sell cars, but have included no promises of significant political change.

Castro held to that line in his speech when he railed against the United States, Cuba's longtime ideological foe, and its political system and said the Caribbean island 90 miles from Florida intended to remain a one-party state.

The Communist Party is the only legal political party in Cuba and, under a national constitution in effect since 1976, the supreme guiding force of the society and the state.

"In Cuba, based on its experience in the long history of the fight for independence and national sovereignty, we defend the one-party system instead of the demagoguery and commercialization of politics," Castro said.

He said permitting additional parties would open the door to U.S. interference. It "would be the equivalent of legalizing a party of imperialism on our soil," Castro said.

While the party will remain unchallenged, Castor said the country's leaders will be limited to two consecutive five-year terms, an idea he first mentioned at a party congress in April.

Castro said the party was still working out the legal measures for term limits, which will require a change to the constitution, but that implementation could begin "gradually, even before the constitution is changed."

He did not explain how that would be done or when it might start.

Term limits would be a break from the past in the Cuba, where Fidel Castro ruled for 49 years after the 1959 revolution and was succeeded by Raul Castro, his younger brother.

They also could help bring new blood into the government, whose current leaders are elderly and have no obvious replacements.

Raul Castro is 80, his vice president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura is 81 and Fidel Castro, now mostly retired but still present behind the scenes, is 85.

There was talk before the conference that the party might impose age limits on leaders and promote new, younger people into the party hierarchy, but there had been no mention of either.

Bert Hoffmann, a Cuba specialist at German Institute of Global Area Studies in Hamburg, said the message of the conference appeared to be "to downplay any expectations that economic reforms might entail political change."

(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes and Marc Frank)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/wl_nm/us_cuba_communist_congress

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Egyptians move to reclaim streets through graffiti (AP)

CAIRO ? The conflict between Egypt's ruling military and pro-democracy protesters isn't just on the streets of Cairo, it's on the walls as well, as graffiti artists from each side duel it out with spray paint and stencils.

Earlier this month, supporters of the ruling generals painted over part of the largest and most famous antimilitary graffiti pieces in the capital.

The military's supporters then made a 15-minute video using footage posted by two young men stenciling pro-revolution graffiti and wearing Guy Fawkes masks, the grinning face made famous by the movie "V for Vendetta". In an attempt mock the revolutionary street art, the military supporters declared in their video, "The police, military and people are one hand," and, "The military is a red line."

They posted the video online, calling themselves the "Badr Battalion" and describing themselves as "distinguished Egyptian youth who are against the spies and traitors that burn Egypt."

It was an ironic turnabout, with backers of the authorities picking up the renegade street art medium of revolutionary youth.

During the regime of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt had almost no graffiti on the walls of its cities. But when the uprising against Mubarak's rule erupted a year ago, there was an explosion of the art.

Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew the country's authoritarian leader. The battle continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power.

Since Mubarak's fall on Feb. 11, graffiti is everywhere in Cairo and other cities, proclaiming the goals of the revolution and mocking the regime. Graffiti artists have continued to work, using walls, buildings, bridges and sidewalks as a canvas to denounce the generals who took power after Mubarak as new dictators and to press the revolution's demands.

Usually anti-military graffiti has a short lifetime before it is quickly painted over or defaced with black spray paint. And just as quickly the artists put up more.

The graffito that pro-military supporters painted over had survived remarkably long. Mohamed Fahmy, known by his pseudonym Ganzeer, put it up in May under a bridge. It depicts a military tank with its turret aimed at a boy on his bike who balances on his head one of the wooden racks that are traditionally used to deliver bread ? though instead of bread, he's carrying a city. It was a symbolic reference to revolutionary youth who care for the nation, heading into a collision with the generals.

Quickly after it was partially stenciled over, a new graffiti was up, depicting the country's military leader as a large snake with a bloody corpse coming out of his mouth.

Graffiti has turned into perhaps the most fertile artistic expression of Egypt's uprising, shifting rapidly to keep up with events. Faces of protesters killed or arrested in crackdowns are common subjects ? and as soon as a new one falls, his face is ubiquitous nearly the next day.

The face of Khaled Said, a young man whose beating death at the hands of police officers in 2010 helped fuel the anti-Mubarak uprising, even appeared briefly on the walls of the Interior Ministry, the daunting security headquarters that few would dare even approach in the past.

Other pieces mock members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the council of generals that is now in power, or figures from Mubarak's regime.

When a police officer was captured on an Internet video shooting at the eyes of protesters during clashes, his image immediately dotted walls, urging people to find the "Eye-Sniper."

State television is another frequent target because it has become the mouthpiece for the military's proclamations that protesters are vandals, thugs and part of a plot to throw Egypt into chaos. One graffito shows the word "Occupy" written in the shape of the State TV building. Stickers plastered on walls show the words "Go down to the street" emerging from a television set, a message to the so-called "Couch Party," people who sit and watch the protests on TV.

"It's about a message in the street. It reaches the poor, the rich, the trash collector, the taxi driver," graffiti artist Karim Gouda said. "Most of these people are away from the Internet and the social networking world so it's a way to reach them."

Not everyone is receptive. Gouda said he was accosted by residents as he put up posters depicting a rotting face with the words "open your eyes before it's too late" in the impoverished Cairo district of Sayeda Zeinab. They accused him of trying to create civil strife and of trying to encourage Egypt's Christian minority to take over from the Muslim majority. Such accusations about activists were rife at the time after an October protest by Christians in Cairo, which was crushed by soldiers, killing more than 20.

The residents tore down Gouda's posters and chased him out of the neighborhood.

Under Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule, political expression on the streets was repressed by his powerful police forces. Once every five years, parliamentary elections would see the country littered with posters for elections that always favored the ruling party. Billboards advertising a lifestyle that only a privileged few could afford for companies whose owners were often closely affiliated with the regime towered over the sprawling slums of Cairo, a bustling city of some 18 million people.

"It's liberating to see," blogger Soraya Morayef said of the proliferation of street art.

Morayef, who has dedicated her blog Suzeeinthecity to documenting graffiti artists' work, said the street art reflects what happened in the whole country.

"The fear barrier was broken," she said.

___

Soraya Morayef's blog on graffiti: http://suzeeinthecity.wordpress.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_graffiti

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Woman Jailed For Holding Fundraiser For Cancer Patient, Stealing ...

A judge told a woman on Thursday that she would spend 30 days in jail and pay $9,000 after being arrested for stealing from a cancer patient.

According to investigators, Kimberly Richeson stole nearly $7,000 from her friend, Maria Herren, who has terminal Stage 4 breast cancer.

Investigators said that Richeson held a fundraiser last February for Herren at the Griswold Center in Worthington and raised nearly $18,000.

Richeson told the Herren family that $11,000 was raised and kept the rest, 10TV's Jason Frazer reported.

Philip Herren, Maria Herren's husband, said that Richeson apologized to his family in court.

"This event that was so wonderful that had all of this outpouring of support and love for Maria was tarnished by simple greed," Herren said.
?
According to Herren, Richeson tipped the family off about the money.

"Maria needed a bill paid and was asking her, 'Please can you get this bill paid,'" Herren said. "And Kim was like, 'Yea, there's not enough money in the account because I took this $1,000 out to get my duct work cleaned."

Herren said he looked at the bank account and found that $5,000 was paid towards Maria Herren's medical bills and the rest of the money was used at businesses like T.J. Maxx, Wendy's, Dairy Queen and Kroger.

Herren said that he and his wife confronted Richeson.? When she did not pay, they went to the police.

"I'm sorry that everyone has had to go through this, because this really is a kind of an affront to the community," Herren said.

Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for continuing coverage.

?2012 by 10TV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2012/01/27/worthington-woman-jailed-for-holding-fundraiser-for-cancer-patient-stealing-money.html

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Anthropologists clarify link between Asians and early Native-Americans

Thursday, January 26, 2012

A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists.

Lying at the intersection of what is today Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, the region known as the Altai "is a key area because it's a place that people have been coming and going for thousands and thousands of years," said Theodore Schurr, an associate professor in Penn's Department of Anthropology. Schurr, together with doctoral student Matthew Dulik and a team of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, collaborated on the work with Ludmila Osipova of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia.

Among the people who may have emerged from the Altai region are the predecessors of the first Native Americans. Roughly 20-25,000 years ago, these prehistoric humans carried their Asian genetic lineages up into the far reaches of Siberia and eventually across the then-exposed Bering land mass into the Americas.

"Our goal in working in this area was to better define what those founding lineages or sister lineages are to Native American populations," Schurr said.

The team's study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, analyzed the genetics of individuals living in Russia's Altai Republic to identify markers that might link them to Native Americans. Prior ethnographic studies had found distinctions between tribes in the northern and southern Altai, with the northern tribes apparently linked linguistically and culturally to ethnic groups farther to the north, such as the Uralic or Samoyedic populations, and the southern groups showing a stronger connection to Mongols, Uighurs and Buryats.

Schurr and colleagues assessed the Altai samples for markers in mitochondrial DNA, which is maternally inherited, and in Y chromosome DNA, which is passed from fathers to sons. They also compared the samples to ones previously collected from individuals in southern Siberia, Central Asia, Mongolia, East Asia and a variety of American indigenous groups. Because of the large number of gene markers examined, the findings have a high degree of precision.

"At this level of resolution we can see the connections more clearly," Schurr said.

Looking at the Y chromosome DNA, the researchers found a unique mutation shared by Native Americans and southern Altaians in the lineage known as Q.

"This is also true from the mitochondrial side," Schurr said. "We find forms of haplogroups C and D in southern Altaians and D in northern Altaians that look like some of the founder types that arose in North America, although the northern Altaians appeared more distantly related to Native Americans."

Calculating how long the mutations they noted took to arise, Schurr's team estimated that the southern Altaian lineage diverged genetically from the Native American lineage 13,000 to 14,000 years ago, a timing scenario that aligns with the idea of people moving into the Americas from Siberia between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago.

Though it's possible, even likely, that more than one wave of people crossed the land bridge, Schurr said that other researchers have not yet been able to identify a similar geographic focal point from which Native Americans can trace their heritage.

"It may change with more data from other groups, but, so far, even with intensive work in Mongolia, they're not seeing the same things that we are," he said.

In addition to elucidating the Asia-America connection, the study confirms that the modern cultural divide between southern and northern Altaians has ancient genetic roots. Southern Altaians appeared to have had greater genetic contact with Mongolians than they did with northern Altaians, who were more genetically similar to groups farther to the north.

However, when looking at the Altaians' mitochondrial DNA in isolation, the researchers did observe greater connections between northern and southern Altaians, suggesting that perhaps females were more likely to bridge the genetic divide between the two populations.

"Subtle differences here both reflect the Altaians themselves ? the differentiation among those groups ? and allow us to try to point to an area where some of these precursors of American Indian lineages may have arisen," Schurr said.

Moving forward, Schurr and his team hope to continue to use molecular genetic techniques to trace the movement of peoples within Asia and into and through the Americas. They may also attempt to identify links between genetic variations and adaptive physiological responses, links that could inform biomedical research.

For example, Schurr noted that both Siberian and Native American populations "seem to be susceptible to Westernization of diet and moving away from traditional diets, but their responses in terms of blood pressure and fat metabolism and so forth actually differ."

Using genomic approaches along with traditional physical anthropology may lend insight into the factors that govern these differences.

###

University of Pennsylvania: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews

Thanks to University of Pennsylvania for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117096/Anthropologists_clarify_link_between_Asians_and_early_Native_Americans

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Heigl would love to return to 'Grey's Anatomy' (AP)

NEW YORK ? Katherine Heigl wants to set the record straight: She loved the six seasons she played Dr. Izzie Stevens on "Grey's Anatomy" and would gladly return to the ABC medical drama.

"I would be thrilled if they asked. I think it would be just so wonderful to have the opportunity to just sort of round out the character, have a few episodes to just discover where she went, what she's doing now and (have) one more loving, romantic scene with Alex (played by Justin Chambers)," the 33-year-old actress said in an interview Wednesday.

Although it was rumored that Heigl left the show on bad terms, she said it was because she wanted to focus on her daughter, Naleigh.

"That was a really, really difficult decision," she said. "You know, you are always going to grapple with something like that because it was a great experience and I didn't really want to go. But I felt ... like I need to make her and my husband and our life together as a family my priority."

Heigl has been busy promoting her latest comedy, "One for the Money," with 3-year-old Naleigh joining her on the talk-show circuit. (Heigl is one of the movie's executive producers.)

The film, in theaters Friday, is based on the first book in the popular Stephanie Plum mystery series by Janet Evanovich.

Heigl stars as Plum, a New Jersey lingerie saleswoman-turned-bounty hunter charged with bringing in her high school flame.

AP: Why do you want to set the record straight about "Grey's Anatomy"?

Heigl: I feel like it was a very innocent question asked last week, and my first instinct and innocent answer was, `Oh yeah, I'd love to go back if they wanted me to.' And it's turned into this story! ... I wouldn't want anyone to feel misled or feel confused by my answer and I just want everyone to know, `Hey I love that show and I love that character just as much as you do.'

AP: Since leaving the show, you've starred in several romantic comedies. Are you worried about being typecast?

Heigl: They tend to be the movies I watch when I'm home and hanging out and want to relax. I want to watch Kate Hudson, I want to watch Reese Witherspoon, I want to watch all those great movies that make you feel good. So I loved being a part of them and I didn't mind being typecast, but any time you start to wander outside the box a little bit people start to get confused. ... This one is an interesting one because it wasn't a conscious decision not to do romantic comedy. ... The book explores so many different themes that in order to honor it properly and do right by it we couldn't just turn it into a romantic comedy.

AP: You're in a scene where you're naked and handcuffed to a shower-curtain rod. Was that scary to shoot?

Heigl: It was really nerve-racking and I'll tell you what ... seeing it on a very, very, very big screen at the premiere, it was a very different experience. I was like, man that was embarrassing. It's a lot of me.

AP: Did you have to mentally prepare for those scenes?

Heigl: We spent a lot of time joking around and being silly about it because it is so absurd and there are things you can do to sort of cover the most private bits, I guess, but they almost look worse ? the pasties look even more bizarre than if I had just gone for it.

AP: How has motherhood affected your career?

Heigl: My career had been my primary focus for a very long time and that's a very self-absorbed path. It's all about me. It's all about what I want. It's all about what I need. ... And having Naleigh in my life has put that all into a perspective that's much more peaceful and much more profound. I feel very blessed, very grateful to have it because I feel like I can breathe. ... When Naleigh is in a room, whatever that special and unique thing that child has puts me in a frame of mind and a place where I like myself better.

___

Online:

http://www.oneforthemoneyfilm.com

http://www.kheigl.com/

___

Nicole Evatt covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_en_mo/us_film_q_a_katherine_heigl

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The Brittle Star's Apprentice (preview)

Feature Articles | More Science See Inside

Chemist Joanna Aizenberg mines the deep sea and the forest wetlands for nature's design secrets and uses them to fashion new materials that may change the world

By Gareth Cook ?| January 26, 2012?|

Image: Photograph by Jared Leeds

In Brief

• Who: Joanna Aizenberg
• Vocation|Avocation: Runs a biomimetics lab
• Where: Harvard University
• Research Focus: Takes inspiration from nature for designing new types of materials.
• Big Picture: ?What we do, then, is study interesting biological systems, but with the eyes of a physical scientist.?

Among the first things you notice when you step into the corner office of Harvard University professor Joanna Aizenberg are the playthings. Behind her desk sit a sand dollar, an azure butterfly mounted in a box, a plastic stand with long fibers that erupt in color when a switch is pulled, and haphazard rows of toys. Especially numerous are the Rubik?s cubes?the classic three-by-three, of course, but also ones with four, five, six and even seven mini cubes along each edge. An eight-year-old would be in heaven.

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CA-CANADA Summary (Reuters)

Canadian pipeline needs aboriginal consent: chief

OTTAWA (Reuters) ? Enbridge Inc's controversial plan to build a pipeline to the Pacific Coast from oil-rich Alberta requires the consent of aboriginal bands, some of whom staunchly oppose the project, Canada's top native leader said on Wednesday. The contention underlines the difficulties facing Enbridge as it tries to push through the C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) Northern Gateway project, which would cross land belonging to many Indian bands, or first nations, so the oil sands-derived crude could be shipped to Asia and California.

Clock ticking on possible Air Canada strike, lock-out

(Reuters) - Air Canada's refusal to extend a period of conciliated labor talks with its pilots' union raises the chance of a strike or lock-out at the country's biggest airline by as early as February. The 3,000-strong Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) said on Tuesday the carrier had declined to extend labor contract negotiations that had been taking place under a conciliator appointed by the federal government.

Ontario finance minister sees targeted budget reforms

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ontario's spring budget will see targeted changes to the public sector, rather than cuts across all areas, the finance minister of Canada's most populous province said on Wednesday. "I categorically reject that we will do across the board cuts," Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said in an interview.

Canada education sector toughest job market

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Unemployed workers in Canada's educational services sector faced the toughest job market in the country in the July-September period, according to a new Statistics Canada report on Tuesday. For every 10 unemployed workers in education, there was just one vacancy, the agency's new data on job vacancies in the three-month period showed. The second worst sector was construction where the ratio was 5.1.

Canada's telecoms regulator appoints interim chief

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's telecoms and broadcasting regulator appointed Vice-Chairman Leonard Katz as its interim chairman on Wednesday as predecessor Konrad von Finckenstein's term ended. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said in a statement that Katz will exercise the chairman's powers until the federal cabinet appoints a permanent replacement for von Finckenstein.

Rwanda genocide suspect deported from Canada

KIGALI (Reuters) - A Rwandan man charged with crimes against humanity has been deported from Canada and is due to arrive in the central African country overnight, Rwanda's justice minister said on Tuesday. Leon Mugesera, who lost a 16-year battle to stay in Canada, will face charges of inciting murder, extermination and genocide.

Pilots say Air Canada quit talks; government disagrees

CALGARY/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Air Canada pilots said on Tuesday the airline had abandoned contract talks in the hope that Ottawa would step in to resolve the dispute, but the country's largest carrier said it was awaiting the union's response to its latest offer. Canadian Labour Minister Lisa Raitt also said talks had not broken down and the federally appointed conciliator remained in contact with both parties and was available to assist with negotiations.

Ottawa sees itself as protector of oil sands benefits

VANCOUVER/CALGARY (Reuters) - Canada's government has a responsibility to make sure people can take advantage of the economic benefits Alberta's massive oil deposits can generate, the country's energy minister said on Monday as he once again decried "radicals" bent on stopping Enbridge Inc's Northern Gateway oil pipeline. As about 50 protesters demonstrated noisily outside, Joe Oliver, minister of natural resources, said in Vancouver that "environmental and other radical groups" are indiscriminately opposing any and all large industrial projects and are using Canada's regulatory system as their main battleground.

Canadian minister blasts China ahead of PM's visit

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's foreign minister launched an outspoken attack on China's "abhorrent" treatment of religious minorities on Monday, just weeks before Prime Minister Stephen Harper goes to Beijing in a bid to sell more oil. John Baird's comments came as a major surprise, given Canada's right-of-center Conservative government has gradually toned down its attacks on Chinese human rights issues over the years in favor of boosting trade.

RIM shares bounce back after shuffle-related drop

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion rose 8.6 percent on Wednesday, rebounding after two days of declines on disappointment over the choice of an company insider as the BlackBerry maker's new chief executive. The jump followed a 8 percent swoon on Monday and a 3.5 percent drop on Tuesday. Over the weekend, RIM replaced co-chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie with Thorsten Heins, a four-year veteran of the struggling company.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/wl_canada_nm/canada_summary

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CNN en Espanol anchor to participate in Fla debate (omg!)

MIAMI (AP) ? CNN en Espa?ol is joining the list of Spanish-language networks to co-host debates and forums with the GOP presidential candidates.

On Thursday, CNN en Espanol's top anchor Juan Carlos Lopez will moderate questions from a panel in Miami during the CNN debate in Jacksonville. The debate is also co-hosted by the Hispanic Leadership Network and the Republican Party of Florida.

Last the fall, Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz-Balart asked questions related to immigration during an MSNBC debate, and he has since interviewed several of the candidates, including Newt Gingrich. On Wednesday Univision anchor Jorge Ramos went head-to-head in a series of "Meet the Candidate" interviews with Mitt Romney, Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

Lopez has collaborated with CNN, before, but Thursday's event will showcase his talents to a much broader, English-speaking audience.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_cnn_en_espanol_anchor_participate_fla_debate085922390/44310830/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/cnn-en-espanol-anchor-participate-fla-debate-085922390.html

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PlayStation 3 video editor to hit Europe in Q1, 10 euros at launch

While Mr. Blurrycam already spotted the upcoming PlayStation 3 video editor at CES, he was unable to divulge any details on release dates. We were similarly unable to wring out much more when we hit the show floor ourselves. Now, Sony has finally outed a few key tidbits, including the fact that Europe can expect it to arrive by the end of Q1 and that you'll have to fork out for the pleasure -- priced at around €10 ($13). According to Electricpig, the PlayMemories Studio will offer up cropping and zooming tools, slow-mo, and a medley of sound and visual effects. Incoming versions of the movie editor for iOS and Android, however, will still arrive gratis. Are you willing to stump up to get your Spielberg on? While there's nothing concrete on a US launch date just yet, we'd expect to see the editor to make a similar appearance over the next few months.

PlayStation 3 video editor to hit Europe in Q1, 10 euros at launch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/24/playstation-3-video-editor-priced-europe-playmemories-studio/

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Official: possibility of unregistered passengers (AP)

GIGLIO, Italy ? Unregistered passengers might have been aboard the stricken cruise liner that capsized off this Tuscan island, a top rescue official said Sunday, raising the possibility that the number of missing might be higher than the 20 previously announced.

Divers, meanwhile, pulled out a woman's body from the capsized Costa Concordia on Sunday, raising to 13 the number of people dead in the Jan. 13 accident.

Civil protection official Francesca Maffini told reporters the victim was wearing a life vest and was found in the rear of a submerged portion of a ship by a team of fire department divers. The unidentified body was being removed from the ship.

Earlier, Italian authorities raised the possibility that the real number of the missing was unknown because some unregistered passengers might have been aboard.

"There could have been X persons who we don't know about who were inside, who were clandestine" passengers aboard the ship, Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the rescue effort, told reporters at a briefing on the island of Giglio, where the ship, with 4,200 people aboard rammed a reef and sliced open its hull on Jan. 13 before turning over on its side.

Gabrielli said that relatives of a Hungarian woman have told Italian authorities that she had telephoned them from aboard the ship and that they haven't heard from her since the accident. He said it was possible that a woman's body pulled from the wreckage by divers on Saturday might be that of the unregistered passenger.

But in addition to the body recovered on Sunday, the body found on Saturday and those of three men found a few days earlier, have yet to be identified, because the corpses were badly decomposed after so much time in the water.

Gabrielli said they have identified the other eight bodies: four French, an Italian, a Hungarian, a German and a Spanish national.

Until Sunday, authorities had said that 20 people are still missing.

The search had been halted for several hours early Sunday, after instrument readings indicated that the Concordia has shifted a bit on its precarious perch on a seabed just outside Giglio's port. A few meters (yards) away, the sea bottom drops off suddenly, by some 20-30 meters (65-100 feet), and if the Concordia should abruptly roll off its ledge, rescuers could be trapped inside.

When instrument data indicated the vessel had stabilized again, rescuers went back in, but only explored the above-water section and evacuation staging areas where survivors have indicated that people who did not make it into lifeboats during the chaotic evacuation could have remained.

Passengers were dining at a gala supper when the Concordia sailed close to Giglio and struck the reef, which is indicated on maritime and even tourist maps.

There are also fears that the Concordia's double-bottom fuel tanks could rupture in case of sudden shifting, spilling 2,200 metric tons (almost 500,000 million gallons) of heavy fuel into pristine sea around Giglio, which is part of a seven-island archipelago in some of the Mediterranean's most pristine waters and a prized fishing area.

But Gabrielli said pollutants found near the ship have been detergents and other substances, including chlorine, apparently from the wreck of the ship, which carried some 3,200 passengers and a crew of 1,000. Any fuel traces found were "compatible with what you find in a port," he said.

Ferries and cargo ships regularly call at Giglio's port.

Sophisticated oil-removal equipment has been standing by, waiting for the search-and-rescue operations to conclude before workers can start extracting the fuel in the tanks.

The Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest as prosecutors investigate him for suspected manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship while many were still aboard.

Operator Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Carnival Cruise Lines, has said that Capt. Schettino had deviated without permission from the vessel's route in an apparent maneuver to sail close to the island and impress passengers.

Schettino, despite audiotapes of his defying Coast Guard orders to scramble back aboard, has denied he abandoned ship while hundreds of passengers were desperately trying to get off the capsizing vessel. He has said he coordinated the rescue from aboard a lifeboat and then from the shore.

___

D'Emilio reported from Rome.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_cruise_aground

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Cooling semiconductor by laser light

Monday, January 23, 2012

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have combined two worlds ? quantum physics and nano physics, and this has led to the discovery of a new method for laser cooling semiconductor membranes. Semiconductors are vital components in solar cells, LEDs and many other electronics, and the efficient cooling of components is important for future quantum computers and ultrasensitive sensors. The new cooling method works quite paradoxically by heating the material! Using lasers, researchers cooled membrane fluctuations to minus 269 degrees C. The results are published in the scientific journal, Nature Physics.

"In experiments, we have succeeded in achieving a new and efficient cooling of a solid material by using lasers. We have produced a semiconductor membrane with a thickness of 160 nanometers and an unprecedented surface area of 1 by 1 millimeter. In the experiments, we let the membrane interact with the laser light in such a way that its mechanical movements affected the light that hit it. We carefully examined the physics and discovered that a certain oscillation mode of the membrane cooled from room temperature down to minus 269 degrees C, which was a result of the complex and fascinating interplay between the movement of the membrane, the properties of the semiconductor and the optical resonances," explains Koji Usami, associate professor at Quantop at the Niels Bohr Institute.

From gas to solid

Laser cooling of atoms has been practiced for several years in experiments in the quantum optical laboratories of the Quantop research group at the Niels Bohr Institute. Here researchers have cooled gas clouds of cesium atoms down to near absolute zero, minus 273 degrees C, using focused lasers and have created entanglement between two atomic systems. The atomic spin becomes entangled and the two gas clouds have a kind of link, which is due to quantum mechanics. Using quantum optical techniques, they have measured the quantum fluctuations of the atomic spin.

"For some time we have wanted to examine how far you can extend the limits of quantum mechanics ? does it also apply to macroscopic materials? It would mean entirely new possibilities for what is called optomechanics, which is the interaction between optical radiation, i.e. light, and a mechanical motion," explains Professor Eugene Polzik, head of the Center of Excellence Quantop at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

But they had to find the right material to work with.

Lucky coincidence

In 2009, Peter Lodahl (who is today a professor and head of the Quantum Photonic research group at the Niels Bohr Institute) gave a lecture at the Niels Bohr Institute, where he showed a special photonic crystal membrane that was made of the semiconducting material gallium arsenide (GaAs). Eugene Polzik immediately thought that this nanomembrane had many advantageous electronic and optical properties and he suggested to Peter Lodahl's group that they use this kind of membrane for experiments with optomechanics. But this required quite specific dimensions and after a year of trying they managed to make a suitable one.

"We managed to produce a nanomembrane that is only 160 nanometers thick and with an area of more than 1 square millimetre. The size is enormous, which no one thought it was possible to produce," explains Assistant Professor S?ren Stobbe, who also works at the Niels Bohr Institute.

Basis for new research

Now a foundation had been created for being able to reconcile quantum mechanics with macroscopic materials to explore the optomechanical effects.

Koji Usami explains that in the experiment they shine the laser light onto the nanomembrane in a vacuum chamber. When the laser light hits the semiconductor membrane, some of the light is reflected and the light is reflected back again via a mirror in the experiment so that the light flies back and forth in this space and forms an optical resonator. Some of the light is absorbed by the membrane and releases free electrons. The electrons decay and thereby heat the membrane and this gives a thermal expansion. In this way the distance between the membrane and the mirror is constantly changed in the form of a fluctuation.

"Changing the distance between the membrane and the mirror leads to a complex and fascinating interplay between the movement of the membrane, the properties of the semiconductor and the optical resonances and you can control the system so as to cool the temperature of the membrane fluctuations. This is a new optomechanical mechanism, which is central to the new discovery. The paradox is that even though the membrane as a whole is getting a little bit warmer, the membrane is cooled at a certain oscillation and the cooling can be controlled with laser light. So it is cooling by warming! We managed to cool the membrane fluctuations to minus 269 degrees C", Koji Usami explains.

"The potential of optomechanics could, for example, pave the way for cooling components in quantum computers. Efficient cooling of mechanical fluctuations of semiconducting nanomembranes by means of light could also lead to the development of new sensors for electric current and mechanical forces. Such cooling in some cases could replace expensive cryogenic cooling, which is used today and could result in extremely sensitive sensors that are only limited by quantum fluctuations," says Professor Eugene Polzik.

###

University of Copenhagen: http://www.ku.dk

Thanks to University of Copenhagen for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116929/Cooling_semiconductor_by_laser_light

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Greece names and shames alleged top tax evaders

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Debt-crippled Greece has named some 4,000 alleged tax dodgers, including a former media magnate and a prominent entertainer, with the worst offender owing the state nearly euro1 billion ($1.3 billion).

But much of that money might never be reclaimed, as some of the top offenders are in prison or their companies are bankrupt.

The list published by the Finance Ministry late Sunday is part of a campaign to crack down on rampant tax evasion, which ? coupled with inefficient tax collection ? is hampering the recession-hit eurozone member's painful efforts to avoid bankruptcy.

At the top of the list was a 58-year-old accountant, currently serving terms of more than 100 years in prison for tax fraud, who allegedly owes some euro950 million. Most of that sum, however, is in surcharges and fines.

At least another three people convicted over the same scam figure high on the list, which includes debts of more than euro170,000 ($221,000).

But ministry officials acknowledged that it would be extremely hard to collect many of the outstanding debts ? which total nearly euro15 billion ($19.5 billion).

"The truth is that these lists contain debtors who in some cases have owed the money for a long period of time, so after a certain point one does not expect to be able to collect the debts," finance ministry official Haris Theocharis said Monday.

"But I'm sure that there are possibilities ... In some cases (publication) will push debtors to settle their debts, and tax offices to redouble their efforts," Theocharis, who is head of the ministry's general secretariat of information systems that compiled the list, told the Associated Press.

Theocharis argued that the list could also dispel popular misconceptions on the recovery prospects for such debts.

"When more than a year ago the finance minister of the day tried to table legislation to cancel some of these debts that were considered impossible to reclaim, there was a public outcry," he said.

"People say, 'oh there's euro41 billion in outstanding (tax) debts, and if we reclaim that sum then we won't have any problems,'" he said. "This kind of talk has no meaning."

Despite repeated pledges over the past two years, Greek officials have failed to make progress in collecting outstanding debts, which the European Commission task force for Greece calculates at about euro60 billion ($78 billion) ? little more than a tenth of which is seen as collectible.

The country's annual gross domestic product is about euro218 billion, while the 2011 budget deficit is expected to be around euro19.7 billion.

The government has acknowledged the grave shortcomings of its tax service, even admitting that a hugely unpopular new property tax under which nonpaying households will have their electricity cut off might not have been imposed if the tax collection system were more efficient.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-23-EU-Greece-Tax-Evasion/id-dc638d43282a40648b0a961144fb1d99

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EU ministers push bondholders in Greek deal

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, left, speaks with Luxembourg's Prime Minister and head of the eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. European finance ministers will try on Monday to give new momentum to talks on a Greek debt relief deal that is crucial to avoid a default, but a European diplomat warned that a final agreement may have to wait until a leaders' summit next week. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, left, speaks with Luxembourg's Prime Minister and head of the eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. European finance ministers will try on Monday to give new momentum to talks on a Greek debt relief deal that is crucial to avoid a default, but a European diplomat warned that a final agreement may have to wait until a leaders' summit next week. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Belgium's Finance Minister Steven Vanackere, right, speaks with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. European finance ministers will try on Monday to give new momentum to talks on a Greek debt relief deal that is crucial to avoid a default, but a European diplomat warned that a final agreement may have to wait until a leaders' summit next week. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan, right, speaks with Luxembourg's Finance Minister Luc Frieden during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. European finance ministers will try on Monday to give new momentum to talks on a Greek debt relief deal that is crucial to avoid a default, but a European diplomat warned that a final agreement may have to wait until a leaders' summit next week. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, right, speaks with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. European finance ministers will try on Monday to give new momentum to talks on a Greek debt relief deal that is crucial to avoid a default, but a European diplomat warned that a final agreement may have to wait until a leaders' summit next week. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, right, speaks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti during a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. European finance ministers will try on Monday to give new momentum to talks on a Greek debt relief deal that is crucial to avoid a default, but a European diplomat warned that a final agreement may have to wait until a leaders' summit next week. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

BRUSSELS (AP) ? European finance ministers piled the pressure on Greece's private creditors Monday to reach an agreement with Athens to cut the country's massive debt load, with the Dutch representative warning bondholders that they may be forced to take losses.

Time is running out for Greece to reduce its debt by some euro100 billion ($129 billion) and avoid missing a vital bond repayment deadline. Talks between the country and representatives of banks and other investment firms to secure a deal hit an impasse over the weekend.

The deal would involve private creditors swapping their old Greek bonds for ones with a 50 percent lower face value. The new, lower priced bonds, would also have much longer maturities ? pushing repayments decades into the future ? and will pay a much lower interest rate than Greece would currently have to pay on the market.

It's clear that Greece needs some form of deal soon ? it faces a euro14.5 billion ($19 billion) bond repayment on March 20, which it will be unable to afford if the bond swap doesn't go through.

The Greek government and representatives for the private creditors said they are moving closer to a final deal. But any agreement also has to be signed off by the other 16 countries that also use the euro as their currency and the International Monetary Fund, who have made the deal a key condition of the country winning any further bailout loans.

Greece has been surviving on a first euro110 billion ($142 billion) batch of rescue loans since May 2010, which were conditioned on deep spending cuts and sweeping public sector reforms.

At the center of the debate is the interest rate that Greece will have to pay on the new, lower-valued bonds. The interest rate is key not only to determining the overall losses for the bondholders but also to whether the deal will work.

If the interest rate is too high, a second, euro130 billion ($168 billion) bailout for Greece may not be enough to put the country back on its feet. The other eurozone states and the IMF would have to provide more loans, but they are unwilling to do so.

But if they are too low, the losses for bondholders will become so high that it will be difficult to get them to agree voluntarily to a deal.

Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager indicated that the eurozone may be moving away from its previous insistence that investors will not be forced to take losses.

"We've never pushed for a default, but we've never said it (a restructuring) must be voluntary," de Jager said as he arrived for a meeting with his eurozone counterparts in Brussels. "Our goal is a sustainable debt. It has our preference if it's voluntary, but it's not a precondition for us."

Greece needs to secure a deal quickly if it wants to avoid a disorderly default on March 20.

"Given that any debt swap deal will involve a lot of lawyers, it is estimated that around 5 weeks are needed between agreement and the bond maturing to prevent default," said Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners. "This does not leave much wriggle room, although such pressure must focus the minds of all at the negotiating table."

A forced restructuring would likely trigger payouts on so-called credit default swaps ? a contract traded between banks and other investment firms that want to insure against potential defaults. Because the market in CDS is obscure ? with no clear data on who would owe whom how much ? the eurozone fears that a payout could lead to turmoil on financial markets similar to what happened after the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Although officials, including the French and Greek finance ministers, insisted that a deal was in the making, few expected a final agreement ahead of a key summit of EU leaders next Monday. De Jager suggested that negotiations may even drag on beyond that.

Greece's economic problems kicked off Europe's debt crisis more than two years ago and the continent's inability to resolve its troubles have raised concerns about other highly indebted countries. But positive bond auctions in Spain, Italy and France last week have eased some concerns about the region's bigger economies and have lifted stock markets and the value of the euro.

Ministers will also seek to put the finishing touches on their permanent bailout fund ? the euro500 billion European Stability Mechanism ? which is scheduled to come into force this year. They will also discuss a new intergovernmental treaty designed to keep eurozone countries from overspending.

___

Greg Keller in Paris and Nicolas Paphitis in Athens contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-23-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-0365f1a3431a406099d8fbb388466d34

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Congress and Cuts (TIME)

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Turks march in Paris to denounce genocide bill (AP)

PARIS ? Thousands of Turks from across Europe marched through the French capital Saturday denouncing a bill that would make it a crime to deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago was genocide.

Turks young and old, waving their country's red flag, or wrapped in it, marched to the Senate, where the bill will be debated Monday after passage in December in the lower house.

They carried banners reading "No to Sarkozy Shame Law," "History for Historians, Politics for Politicians" or other slogans denouncing an alleged bid by President Nicolas Sarkozy to "fish for votes" among French Armenians before the two-round presidential elections in April and May.

Critics claim the real aim of the bill is to ensure votes for President Nicolas Sarkozy from French Armenians in the two-round presidential elections in April and May. An estimated 500,000 Armenians live in France.

The measure would make it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman Turks constitute genocide. It sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine of euro45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or "outrageously minimize" the killings ? putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust.

France formally recognized the 1915 killings as genocide in 2001, but provided no penalty for anyone refuting that.

Despite the passing of nearly 100 years since the killings, the issue remains a deeply emotional one for Armenians who lost loved ones and for Turks who see a challenge to their national honor.

An irate Turkey briefly recalled its ambassador to France and suspended military, economic and political ties.

"Politicians who haven't read an article on this say there was a genocide," said Beyhan Yildirim, 35, a demonstrator from Berlin. He was among those bused into Paris from Germany and elsewhere for Saturday's march.

Scores of buses from France, Germany and elsewhere lined the streets of southern Paris where the march began.

Armenians plan a demonstration near the Senate on Monday before the debate and vote.

It was unclear whether the measure would get the easy ride it did in the National Assembly, the lower but more powerful house.

The Senate is controlled by the rival Socialists who had earlier backed the bill. However, the Senate Commission on Laws voted against its passage last week, saying the measure risks violating constitutional protections including freedom of speech. The question is whether the Socialists will heed the recommendations if only because the issue is becoming an electoral hot potato.

Compromising freedom of expression in France, considered the cradle of human rights, has been a key argument of the Turkish government against the measure.

It is unclear whether lawmakers in the National Assembly had an inkling in advance that their vote giving the green light to the bill would trigger a diplomatic dispute. There appeared to be less than 100 lawmakers present for the Dec. 22 vote ? out of 577.

Fadime Ertugrul-Tastan, deputy mayor of small Normandy town of Herouville, was among those demonstrating against the bill on Saturday, wearing the blue, white and red sash of French officials.

She said her family hailed from Kars, near the Armenian border, and her grandparents were killed by Armenians.

"I am here to honor their memory," she said, adding, "There was no genocide because we were in a period of war."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_turkey_genocide

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Trial of accused Haditha ringleader resumes without plea deal (Reuters)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif (Reuters) ? The court-martial of a U.S. Marine sergeant accused of leading a 2005 massacre of civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha resumed on Friday without a plea deal, suggesting that court-sanctioned negotiations toward such an agreement had stalled.

Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and dereliction of duty stemming from the November 2005 deaths of two dozen Iraqi civilians in Haditha, a city west of Baghdad that was then an insurgent hotspot.

That incident, which brought international condemnation on U.S. troops, was portrayed by Iraqi witnesses as a massacre of unarmed civilians. Local witnesses said Marines killed two dozen men, women and children after a popular comrade, Lance Corporal Miguel "TJ" Terrazas, was killed by a roadside bomb.

Wuterich, the most senior of the troops on the ground, pleaded not guilty when the trial began in early January. His trial was abruptly halted on Wednesday when the judge, Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, told defense lawyers and the government to explore other options.

The resumption of the trial seemed to indicate that those negotiations had broken down, although no mention was made in open court of the day-and-a-half delay or the talks. Prosecutors and defense attorneys both declined to comment.

Six out of the eight Marines originally charged in the case had their charges dismissed by military judges, and another was cleared. Wuterich, who initially faced murder charges, is the last of the group to face court proceedings.

A U.S. Marine spokesman at Camp Pendleton said the trial, initially projected to last one month, is now expected to run through mid-February.

(Writing by Mary Slosson; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/us_nm/us_crime_haditha_trial

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'Red Tails' airmen have new target: box office (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? Tuskegee Airman Herbert Carter flew 77 missions during World War II and crashed landed only once, impressive numbers that challenged those skeptical of the abilities of black aviators. Decades later, he and the other legendary African-American airmen he flew with must once again prove themselves ? at the box office.

"Red Tails," a movie chronicling the heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen and starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terence Howard, opens Friday in 2,500 theaters nationwide.

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas has been blunt about his 23-year struggle to make the film. He said executives at every major studio rejected it because they didn't think mainstream viewers would pay to see an all-black cast.

The 94-year-old Carter sees the hesitation by studios as history repeating itself.

"It goes back to the old axiom that the all-black fighter squadron, in their estimate, wasn't going to do well," said Carter, who made a career of the Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel. "It ... doesn't surprise me."

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black aviators in the U.S. military. They were trained in Alabama at Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, as a segregated unit during World War II.

After being admitted to the Army Air Corps, they were prohibited from fighting alongside white counterparts and faced severe prejudice, yet went on to become one of World War II's most respected fighter squadrons, successfully escorting countless bombers during the war.

And once back home, many became affluent businessmen and community leaders, despite the continued racism they faced.

"My heroes, those original airmen, set the pace for us younger people," quipped 77-year-old Leon Crayton, a former Air Force flier and member of the honorary Tuskegee Airmen chapter in Tuskegee, Ala., one of 55 in the U.S.

Lucas had several of the surviving airmen join him for a screening of the movie in New York last week, including Dr. Roscoe Brown, Floyd Carter, Roscoe Draper, Shade Lee, Charles McGee, Eugene Richardson and Theobald G. Wilson.

Nate Parker, who plays the role of a flight leader in "Red Tails," said he and the other actors were motivated by the leadership and bravery of the airmen, who distinguished themselves by painting the tails of their planes red, and formed a circle of prayer before many of their missions.

"They all strove for excellence," said Parker. "Excellence is the driving force through adversity, in everything we do."

Syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, whose father was an early cadet in the Tuskegee Airman program, agreed. He said airmen like his father inspired him at one time to do a morning show in Dallas and then fly to Chicago for an afternoon show, earning the nicknames "The Fly Jock" and "The Hardest Working Man in Radio."

While the big studios may calculate that a movie focused on blacks can't be a box office success, promoters of "Red Tails" are playing up the aerial thrills and heroism that should appeal to all viewers, regardless of their race.

"These are American heroes whose story just needs to be put on the largest, biggest, widest screen possible," said Tirrell Whittley, head of Liquid Soul Media, which is marketing the film.

Carter and other surviving airmen, some of whom were advisers during the making of the movie, say they're appreciative to Lucas for spending nearly $100 million of his own money to make and market the film.

"It's a wonderful feeling that finally there is some recognition that's being done in a manner that is credible to the Tuskegee Airmen," Carter said.

Black filmmakers and actors are pulling for the movie to be successful because they realize its success could mean more opportunities for them.

"Every black film that's made seems to have a bearing on whether black filmmakers get an opportunity," said Terverius Black, a filmmaker in Huntsville, Ala. "I want to see it be successful."

Joyner said he too wants the movie to have strong box office numbers, but acknowledges it will be challenging.

"You have to make twice the money that you put in just to break even," Joyner said. "You put in $100 million, you got to make $200 million. So this will be pretty monumental."

Some historians and scholars believe the movie's general war theme will be an attraction to all audiences.

Bobby Lovett was a history professor at Tennessee State University in Nashville for nearly 40 years before recently retiring. He often invited some of the Tuskegee Airmen to speak to his students, who were fascinated by their stories.

"There's a sort of romanticism attached to pilots and aircraft," he said. "I don't know of any other story you could pull out of World War II that would be as appealing to an audience."

Vanderbilt University professor Alice Randall said the movie could introduce some to a portion of black history they've never heard.

"We have an opportunity to ... educate viewers, even as we entertain them, about the rainbow of Americans who have performed patriotic duty for this country," said Randall, a writer-in-residence in African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt.

Tennessee Rep. Tony Shipley, a Kingsport Republican and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who has attended events with the Tuskegee Airmen, said "the war could have gone a different direction" had it not been for the airmen who escorted bombers deep into Germany.

"Those guys were ... absolutely awesome," said Shipley, who is white. "And if anybody pays attention to the story ? who cares black, white, green, yellow ? they were Americans. People are alive today whose grandfather would have been killed had it not been for the Tuskegee Airmen."

Vernice Armour, the nation's first black female combat pilot, said the airmen helped pave the way for men and women in the military, and noted a phrase at the bottom of a poster advertising the movie that reads: "Courage has no color."

"Without their honor, courage and sacrifice, I wouldn't be where I am," said Armour, who served two tours during the Iraq War as a Marine.

The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their service in 2007 by President George W. Bush, and were invited to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009. President Obama and the first lady screened "Red Tails" at the White House last week.

Regardless of its impact at the box office, many believe the inspirational message of the movie will linger for a long time.

"These are the type of films I try to do," Parker said. "Things that ... you can take into our community and effect change in a way that the airmen did."

___

Online:

http://www.redtails2012.com/

http://www.invisibleheroesmovie.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_en_ot/us_tuskegee_airmen

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