MOSCOW // American fugitive Edward Snowden was offered a job by Russia's top social networking site yesterday, hours after the former intelligence contractor received a year-long asylum in Russia.
"We invite Edward Snowden to Petersburg and will be happy if he decides to join the star team of programmers at VKontakte," Pavel Durov, one of the founders of the St. Petersburg-based VKontakte, Russia's answer to Facebook, said on his profile.
Snowden's temporary asylum papers allow him to work in Russia, according to Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer close to the Russian authorities, who has been assisting the American.
Moscow has refused Washington's repeated requests to hand over the 30-year-old to face trial on espionage charges after he leaked details of secret US surveillance programmes involving phone and Internet data.
Seeking to avoid US prosecution, Snowden arrived to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 has been stuck in the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo airport for more than a month before slipping out on Thursday with new refugee documents.
The spat over Snowden's fate has added to tensions between Russia and the United States, already at loggerheads over the conflict in Syria as well as other defence and human rights issues.
But Snowden is also a useful propaganda tool for Moscow, which often accuses Washington of preaching on human rights abroad what it does not practice at home.
Durov of VKontakte, or "InTouch", which says it has more than 210 million registered profiles and up to 47 million daily users, said he took pride in Russia's decision to harbour Snowden.
"Today Edward Snowden - the man who denounced US security services' crimes against citizens of the whole world - received temporary asylum in Russia," Durov said.
"In such moments one feels pride with our country and regret over the course taken by United States - a country betraying the principles it was once built on," he added.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - An Austrian priest who has stirred controversy in Europe with his challenge to Catholic church teachings on taboo topics suggested on Wednesday that women should be allowed to become priests and said that gays need justice, not just mercy.
Father Helmut Schuller, who has been banned by American bishops from speaking in Catholic churches while on a tour of the United States that began in mid-July, welcomed recent remarks by Pope Francis on gay rights, but said discussion could go further.
Schuller, in a telephone interview, said the pope's words were a "good opener" and gay people seem to be happy there's a friendlier tone from the church than in the past.
Schuller, leader of an Austrian priest group known for its "Call to Disobedience" challenging church teachings on taboo topics such as the ordination of women and priests marrying, has been drawing enthusiastic crowds during a 15-city U.S. tour that began in New York in mid-July and starts its West Coast leg on Wednesday.
The pope raised hopes of a softening of Catholic church opposition to gay rights when he spoke to reporters during his return from a visit to Brazil this week. Addressing the issue of gay clergy, Francis said, "Who am I to judge?" He also reaffirmed church teaching that homosexual acts are a sin.
Responding to the pope's remarks, Schuller said, "I think it's not only a question of mercy, but it also should be a question of justice to respect the gay people."
On the issue of ordaining women, Francis had reaffirmed the church's ban on women priests, saying, "That door is closed."
But Schuller said the question is, "Who closed the door?" adding, "It is not possible to think the discussion should be finished.
"We should not only knock at the door but try to open it again," Schuller said.
The Catholic church teaches that it cannot ordain women because Jesus willingly chose only men as his apostles. Advocates for women priests say he was only acting according to the customs of his times. Seventy percent of U.S. Catholics believe women should be allowed to be priests, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll earlier this year.
U.S. bishops, including Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley and Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, have forbidden Schuller to speak on church property.
"Those who are not in harmony with Catholic church teachings in what they speak about should not be given a venue," said Joe Kohn, spokesman for the Detroit archdiocese.
Schuller has been meeting privately with U.S. priests. Some priests and nuns were among the crowd of about 500 people who attended his public speech in Chicago last Wednesday.
Schuller said the "Call to Disobedience" arose out of a sense of "deep sorrow" among some Austrian priests, who feared that the worsening priest shortage would mean the end of parish communities. They feared a future of one priest serving as many as 20 parishes - offering Mass at one village before driving onto the next, unable to serve as a pastor to the people.
"We thought to speak out that this cannot be the future of the church," Schuller said.
Last year, Austria's church told the priests they could not support the manifesto, which had been criticized by former Pope Benedict XVI, and stay in administrative posts. The group, however, has won broad public backing in opinion polls for its pledge to break church rules by giving communion to Protestants and divorced Catholics who remarry.
Schuller said it is important for parish priests, many of whom are already quietly defying church doctrine by giving communion to divorced and remarried Catholics, to come out of the shadows.
"Don't hide yourself in your parish communities," Schuller said in his speech in Chicago. He said bishops know priests are defying doctrine at their parishes, but are comfortable about it because no one speaks out, so there seems to be no need for reform. "They got nervous when we spoke out."
Schuller - who is from the Archdiocese of Vienna, the home of Sigmund Freud - said church leaders' approach to dialogue is like "the man who goes to a psychoanalyst and says, 'We can talk about everything, but not about my mother.'"
Dorothy Petraitis, 82, of Evanston, Illinois, who favors both married and women priests, told Schuller at his Chicago appearance that she is tired of waiting for the church to stop being a "dysfunctional family."
"I want to be a member of a functioning church. That might mean I have to leave the church," Petraitis said. "I don't want to do that. Frankly, I'm a little pissed."
"Please don't leave the church," said Schuller, who noted that he and his fellow rebel priests are often asked by conservatives why they don't leave.
"We say the church is not a corporation for me. It's not an apartment I have rented," Schuller said. "We are church. It's my church, and I want her to become changed."
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Editing by Greg McCune and Leslie Adler)
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Syrian government forces captured a historic mosque in the central city of Homs on Saturday, expelling rebel forces who had been in control of the 13th century landmark for more than a year and dealing a symbolic blow to opposition forces.
State-run news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops took control of the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque in the heavily disputed northern neighborhood of Khaldiyeh.
Syrian TV aired a report Saturday night with footage from inside the mosque, showing heavy damage and the tomb's dome knocked out. The footage showed debris strewn on the floor and a portion of the mosque appeared to have been burned.
The mosque, famous for its nine domes and two minarets, has been a symbol for rebels in the city that is known as "the capital of the revolution." On Monday, government troops shelled the mosque, damaging the tomb of Ibn al-Walid, a revered figure in Islam.
After capturing the strategic town of Qusair near the Lebanon border last month, government troops launched an offensive on rebel-held areas in Homs, Syria's third largest city, late in June. They have been pushing into Khaldiyeh and other neighborhoods in the Old City that have been under opposition control since 2011.
A Homs-based activist who identified himself only by his nickname, Abu Bilal, for fear of government reprisals, said troops entered the mosque area from the east. He said regime forces now control more than 60 percent of Khaldiyeh.
"There are very fast developments in Khaldiyeh," Abu Bilal told The Associated Press via Skype. He said he had no further details from local rebel commanders.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy fighting around the mosque, saying the government troops are backed by members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group.
A journalist embedded with Syrian troops told the AP that a reporter for Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam television station was wounded near the mosque. A sniper's bullet struck the thigh of journalist Roa al-Ali, the journalist said, asking his name not be made public as he wasn't authorized to give information to other media outlets.
On top of its symbolic value, Homs is also a geographic lynchpin in Syria. The main highway from Damascus to the north as well as the coastal region, which is a stronghold of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, runs through Homs. Both rebels and the regime place a high strategic value on the city.
And although Assad's forces have been on the offensive in recent months, activists say the regime wants to capture the entirety of Homs to include it in a potential future Alawite state ? stretching from Homs to the coast ? where Assad could make his last stand if the civil war swings against him.
Assad is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while most of the rebels fighting to topple his regime are Sunnis.
Khaldiyeh had a population of about 80,000 but only some 2,000 remain there today as residents fled the violence. The heavy fighting over the past two years has destroyed wide areas and knocked down entire buildings.
Earlier Saturday, Syria's state media said talks between the Syrian government and a United Nations delegation tasked with investigating chemical weapons allegations in the nation's civil war have "resulted in an agreement on ways of moving forward."
Assad's government invited a U.N. team to visit Damascus earlier this month after requesting that the world body investigate an alleged chemical attack in Khan al-Assal, a village in the north. The Syrian regime and the rebels fighting to topple it accuse each other of using chemical agents in the March 19 incident, which killed 31 people.
Assad's government refused to have a possible inquiry include other alleged chemical attack sites in Homs, Damascus and elsewhere.
A joint statement by the foreign ministry and the U.N. that appeared Saturday on SANA's website said the meetings were "comprehensive and fruitful and resulted in an agreement on ways of moving forward."
It did not elaborate. The U.N. team couldn't be reached for comment.
Saturday's announcement on the possible U.N. probe agreement on Khan al-Assal coincided with government allegations that the rebels committed "a massacre" in the village, killing 123 "civilians and military personnel," according to a SANA report. SANA said others are still missing.
The report said "terrorists" were behind the recent killings in Khan al-Assal, a term the government uses for rebels. The Observatory previously said at least 150 government soldiers were killed on Monday and Tuesday there, some after they had surrendered.
A statement released by al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra ? or the Nusra Front ? said 150 soldiers, pro-government gunmen and Shiite militiamen were killed in Khan al-Assal. The statement said fighters captured 63 soldiers alive but 55 of them fled. Nusra Front said its members killed 15 of them before 40 surrendered. The statement did not say if the 40 were still alive.
The conflicting claims could not be independently reconciled.
In Aleppo, a rocket fired by government forces into a rebel-held district killed at least 29 including 19 under the age of 18 and four women, the Observatory said Saturday. The attack happened Friday during government shelling in the Bab al-Nairab neighborhood of Aleppo.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 largely as peaceful protests against Assad's rule. It escalated into a civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to the U.N.'s recent estimate.
___
Associated Press writer Barbara Surk in Beirut contributed to this report. Mroue reported from Beirut.
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Bill Cosby weighed in on George Zimmerman's acquittal on Thursday, telling a Virginia radio show that the prosecution did not do a good job presenting its case for second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin.
"The prosecution did not tell the story well and they lost," Cosby said in an interview with the DomNnate Radio Show. "If you're a lawyer and I'm a lawyer and I'm going up against you and we both have to talk to a jury, we present our story and I think if I don't present the story well enough, that you will win."
The 76-year-old comedian was then asked if he thought if racial profiling was used in Zimmerman's pursuit of Martin.
"Let me just tell you this man," Cosby said. "See this racial stuff goes into a whole bunch of discussion which has stuff that you can't prove. You can't prove that somebody is a racist unless they come out and do the act that is found to be that."
He continued:
But I do know this. I do know this. I heard the person say, "Don't go there." You understand? Okay. "Don't do that." I know that if you have a gun, it changes your whole feeling about what you can tell people, about how people better do what you say. Your mind can turn in such a way that you have a sense of control and power. I see a thing and the so-forth and so-on doesn't look right and say 'Okay, just stay where you are and don't ...' But I got a gun. Let's not go into a racial discussion unless we really have something there. But we do know they got a gun. And we do know that the Florida state law says you have a right to defend yourself. That means both people. So you have a gun. You come up to me. I don't have a gun. But then, you show me your gun. And I become frightened. And according to the state of Florida I have a right to defend myself. According to the state of Florida the person with the gun has a right to defend him or herself. I mean, this is getting out of line.
Earlier in the interview, Cosby said he was reluctant to form an opinion based on the media's coverage of the racially-charged case.
"I would never pay attention to information given to me by media, radio, whatever, about a high profile case until the jury says what it says," he said.
Zimmerman was found not guilty of all charges in Martin's killing last week, drawing the ire of civil rights activists who believe the former neighborhood should be charged with a federal hate crime in the unarmed black teen's slaying.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Moody's Investors Service upgraded the outlook for U.S. government debt to 'stable' from "negative" and affirmed the United States' blue chip Aaa rating.
The rating agency cited a surprising drop in the federal deficit ? the difference between what the government collects in taxes and what it spends. The U.S. government is on track to report its lowest annual deficit in five years.
Through the first eight months of the budget year, the deficit has totaled $509.8 billion, according to the Treasury. That's nearly $400 billion lower than the same period last year.
Moody's had lowered the outlook to "negative" two years ago. But it never went as far as rival Standard & Poor's, which stripped the U.S. of its top credit rating in 2011.
S&P last month upgraded its outlook for long-term U.S. government debt but kept its rating at AA+, a notch below its top grade.
An improving economy and tax hikes and spending cuts that took effect this year have narrowed the government's budget gap.
Still, Moody's warned that the government needed to control longer-term deficits as Baby Boomers age and begin to collect Social Security and Medicare. Failure to do so "could put the rating under pressure again."
The head office of the New Azerbaijan party received a letter from Azerbaijanis living in Uzbekistan. According to the news service for the party, the letter says that the Azerbaijani diaspora in Uzbekistan unites over 50,000 of our compatriots. The letter says that Azerbaijanis who moved to Uzbekistan in different years and for different reasons were cordially welcomed by the friendly people and integrated with the Uzbek community. Azerbaijanis take an active part in sociopolitical and cultural and economic life of the country. Among our compatriots living in Uzbekistan there are prominent...
Edifier reminds us that good things come in small packages, and they say their new MP260 Extreme Connect speaker is no exception to that rule. ?The Extreme Connect is small (6.4? x? 2.44?? x? 1.7? and 0.93lbs ), so it travels with you. ?It has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that provides up to 12 hours [...]
Enough valid signatures have been turned in to get a proposed charter amendment on the ballot that would require a full-time mayor, the Stark County Board of Elections said.
A group led by former Councilman Chuck Osborne submitted 973 signatures. Board staff found that 952 of them were valid signatures of registered North Canton voters, well above the 746 legally required.
Council President Jon Snyder, Ward 4, says council will meet 5:30 p.m. Monday to vote to place the issue on the Nov. 5 ballot, as required by law.
(Council also will decide Monday evening whether to accept a fact finder?s report recommending how to resolve an impasse on wages between the city and the union for the city?s police officers, a unit of the Ohio Patrolmen?s Benevolent Association.)
If voters approve the mayoral amendment, the mayor would be required to ?devote his entire time and effort during regular business hours and all other times as are necessary to properly conduct the business of the city.? The mayor would not be allowed to hold another job during regular hours.
The current mayor, David Held, works weekdays as the executive director of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District.
Osborne said in May that the city needs a full-time mayor who can devote all their attention to city business and not juggle being mayor with another job. He said the amendment would not take effect until 2015.
The mayor now earns $15,000 a year. Council voted Monday to raise the mayor?s and council members? annual salaries by $2,400 effective Dec. 1. It would be up to council to set the salary for a full-time mayor.
Osborne, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2003, has said he did not draft the amendment to make it easier for him to get the job.
?I?m never going to run again,? said Osborne, who was an at-large councilman from 2001 to 2003. ?I?m actually more effective passing my own laws ... (and) serving as a watchdog.?
Last year, he and his supporters collected enough signatures to place a proposed ordinance on the ballot that limited elected officials? health insurance benefits. Nearly 72 percent of voters approved it in November.
MTV blasts into San Diego for interviews with the 'Divergent' cast and more, all starting at 2 p.m. ET Thursday on Comic-Con.MTV.com. By Todd Gilchrist
The choice by Microsoft to make Windows 8 an OS for desktops, laptops, and tablets has been cheered by many and jeered at by others. Whatever side of the Windows 8 for every device camp you fall on the fact is that the multi-dimensional OS is here to stay. Microsoft wants everyone to buy Windows 8 tablets and numerous models are starting to hit the market.?
Tablets running Windows 8 come in all sizes and styles, each trying to get consumers to purchase one rather than the competition, iPads and Android tablets. Having choice is always a good thing for prospective buyers but that may not be the case when it comes to tablets running Windows 8.
See related:
Buyers looking for an iPad have a choice of two sizes and that's it. The purchase decision comes down to which size you want, large or small. The decision is easy with storage space the only option other than size. Most buyers don't want integrated LTE and it usually doesn't enter the purchase decision process.
When you buy an iPad or Android tablet you get good hardware that handles all apps nicely. App handling is an uncertainty for Windows tablets due to the variety of hardware inside.
Shoppers wanting an Android tablet have more options but many of them end up getting a Samsung tablet. It's the biggest selling brand in the Android tablet space. Samsung offers several different sizes so once the consumer decides on how big a tablet is desired the purchase decision is straightforward.
Samsung tablets come with different storage sizes and like the iPad that's the only real decision for purchase. Like the iPad, Samsung Galaxy tablets all run good ARM processors and similar hardware components.?
Even the budget Nexus 7 tablet has good hardware inside and buyers don't have to wade through various internal hardware options.
The same is not true for those looking at the Windows 8 tablet. While tablets of different sizes are beginning to appear on the market, size is only one of several choices that may end up confusing prospective buyers.?
The big choice confronting Windows 8 tablets is of course the Windows RT vs Windows 8 option. Buyers will often find Windows RT on the cheapest of the tablets available, due to the ARM processor inside (like the iPad and Android tablets). The fact that legacy Windows apps cannot be installed on Windows RT tablets is another reason these tablets are cheaper than full Windows models. While current advertising leads buyers to believe that Windows RT and Windows 8 are the same, there's a big difference in the two as noted above.
Once the choice to get a tablet with full Windows 8 is made, buyers need to get familiar with the different Intel processors being used before making a purchase. Most of the cheaper tablets have an Atom processor inside, and while that handles common tasks with ease they aren't the best performing choice. Buyers may end up frustrated by lags doing typical tasks like watching video with the Atom.
To get the best performance possible on tablets running Windows 8 buyers need to go with full Intel Core processors. That usually drives the prices up significantly, even double that of the iPad or Android tablet. That choice also hits the battery life hard, dropping it from near all day utility to just four or five hours. That's not even close to what the competition delivers.
It's no wonder that tablet buyers may be confused when it comes to buying a Windows 8 tablet. There are two versions of Windows to choose from along with several different processor options. The choices can overwhelm non-techie buyers, who often end up buying based on price.
In the Windows world low price means inferior processors which translates into low performance. The buyer will likely end up less than thrilled with the tablet for this reason.
So the typical tablet shopper can choose from the iPad, Android tablet, or Windows tablet. The iPad decision just involves a single model making the purchase process simple. The same is basically true for Android tablets as most branded tablets come with a single model. The iPad and Android tablets all have powerful hardware configurations that run all available apps with ease.
That's not the case with Windows tablets. Some run all Windows apps, some don't, and depending on the hardware inside some tablets may not run heavy apps very well if at all. The only tablets that run all Windows apps well are the high-end models that come with prices that are much higher than the competition. It's no wonder tablet buyers seem to be going with the competition much more often than the Windows 8 options.
June 24, 2013 ? The brain's pleasure response to tasting food can be measured through the eyes using a common, low-cost ophthalmological tool, according to a study just published in the journal Obesity. If validated, this method could be useful for research and clinical applications in food addiction and obesity prevention.
Dr. Jennifer Nasser, an associate professor in the department of Nutrition Sciences in Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, led the study testing the use of electroretinography (ERG) to indicate increases in the neurotransmitter dopamine in the retina.
Dopamine is associated with a variety of pleasure-related effects in the brain, including the expectation of reward. In the eye's retina, dopamine is released when the optical nerve activates in response to light exposure.
Nasser and her colleagues found that electrical signals in the retina spiked high in response to a flash of light when a food stimulus (a small piece of chocolate brownie) was placed in participants' mouths. The increase was as great as that seen when participants had received the stimulant drug methylphenidate to induce a strong dopamine response. These responses in the presence of food and drug stimuli were each significantly greater than the response to light when participants ingested a control substance, water.
"What makes this so exciting is that the eye's dopamine system was considered separate from the rest of the brain's dopamine system," Nasser said. "So most people- and indeed many retinography experts told me this- would say that tasting a food that stimulates the brain's dopamine system wouldn't have an effect on the eye's dopamine system."
This study was a small-scale demonstration of the concept, with only nine participants. Most participants were overweight but none had eating disorders. All fasted for four hours before testing with the food stimulus.
If this technique is validated through additional and larger studies, Nasser said she and other researchers can use ERG for studies of food addiction and food science.
"My research takes a pharmacology approach to the brain's response to food," Nasser said. "Food is both a nutrient delivery system and a pleasure delivery system, and a 'side effect' is excess calories. I want to maximize the pleasure and nutritional value of food but minimize the side effects. We need more user-friendly tools to do that."
The low cost and ease of performing electroretinography make it an appealing method, according to Nasser. The Medicare reimbursement cost for clinical use of ERG is about $150 per session, and each session generates 200 scans in just two minutes. Procedures to measure dopamine responses directly from the brain are more expensive and invasive. For example, PET scanning costs about $2,000 per session and takes more than an hour to generate a scan.
Arya -- with some help from The Hound, sort of -- got a teensy bit of revenge on the season finale.
Does "Game of Thrones" really have a heart after all? After last week's shocking massacre, most fans braced for more tragic deaths in season three's finale. Instead, the blow was softened with poignant reunions and surprising saves, setting the stage for an explosive fourth season.
Body count: No one important died! Unless you count Robb Stark's many bannermen slaughtered at the Twins, that is. But Jon Snow, Theon Greyjoy, Ser Davos, Gendry ... practically all our heroes (and villains) were spared in the aftermath of the Red Wedding.
Headless horseman: One thing viewers were not spared was the sight of Grey Wind, Robb's direwolf, mounted on his body and paraded around the Twins. But the fool who boasted about this unspeakable desecration was silenced by Arya herself, using the knife she stole from the Hound and a little help from Jaqen's silver coin. Valar morghulis!
Helen Sloan / HBO
Awww. Did little Joffrey need to be comforted by mommy after his uncle and grandpa put him in his place?
The North remembers: "Killed a few puppies today?" Tyrion quipped when a jubilant Joffrey first summoned him to a special meeting of the king's council -- to gloat, in fact, about the Red Wedding massacre. After Joffrey threatened to serve up Robb's head to Sansa at his wedding feast (coming in season four!), his appalled uncle offered a thinly disguised threat to kill the little monster. His grandfather also delivered a virtual spanking -- or, as Tyrion put it so well, "You just sent the most powerful man in Westeros to bed without his supper." In fact, only Tywin's youngest son recognized that the Lannister patriarch engineered the slaughter -- and warned that they would all suffer the consequences.
Family first! But as usual, Tywin had the last word: When he questioned his loyalty, daddy dearest revealed that he wanted to drown his youngest as an infant -- and should be grateful that he not only spared him but actually acknowledged him as his son. Ouch. Also: Tywin wanted Tyrion to hurry up and impregnate his wife because Roose Bolton will be Warden of the North until he's supplanted by Tyrion and Sansa's son.
Family reunion: Cersei also encouraged Tyrion to have a baby because they bring such happiness. Like Joffrey, for example, whom she said used to be "such a jolly little fellow." Aw. Jolly times are here again, because she was finally reunited with her baby daddy/brother Jaime -- most of him, anyway.
Hickory Farms: Speaking of missing appendages, Theon's castrator was finally revealed as Roose Bolton's bastard son Ramsay. While he taunted the new eunuch -- renamed Reek -- by munching on a pork sausage, the Greyjoys got a look at the genuine article, sent to the Pike in a fancy gift box. Balon disowned his son, but Theon's suddenly loyal sister, Yara, declared that she would rescue him.
You give love a bad name: Ygritte, as it happens, is a card-carrying member of the Fool Me Once Club. She chased the Night's Watch spy, found him alone and aimed her crossbow at him. Jon professed his love and said, "I know you won't hurt me," but he clearly hasn't been paying attention. "You know nothing, Jon Snow," she snapped one last time before drilling him with three arrows.
Dance Party Castle Black: Fortunately for Ned Stark's bastard, his horse had a great sense of direction, delivering his gravely wounded master to the Night's Watch. Fortunately Jon was conscious enough to recognize his welcoming party, including Samwell Tarly! Sam briefly came across Bran too, before reluctantly giving him, the Reeds and Hodor (Hodor! Hodor! Hodor!) directions to cross The Wall.
Reading rainbow: Thank the gods for Ser Davos' literacy program because he managed to read the warning sent by Samwell's ravens about the northern invasion. Instead of killing the Onion Knight for secretly freeing Gendry, Melisandre persuaded Stannis to spare him -- because Davos "has a part to play in war to come." (So winter really is coming?!)
Keith Bernstein / HBO
Dany is Mother of Dragons, and now, also mother to the Yunkai.
"Mhysa": Let's see, is that everyone? "Game of Thrones" wouldn't say goodbye for the year without one final, victorious send-off from Daenerys Targaryen. When the freed slaves of Yunkai emerged from the city's gates, she refused to command them. "If you want (your freedom) back, you must take it for yourselves," she said before they erupted in shouts of "Mhysa" -- their name for "mother" -- and carried her on their shoulders as her three full-grown dragons soared overhead.
It's not exactly a fairy-tale ending, but after the Red Wedding, we'll take it!
After the penultimate episode, did anything in the finale surprise you? Tell us on our Facebook page!
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After 12 years of performing together, four albums and a Grammy nomination, My Chemical Romance has announced the band is splitting up. The musicians posted the news of their break-up on the band’s official website, thanking fans for their support and revealing their time as a group has come to an end. The statement reads, ...
We've known since early January that Hulu CEO Jason Kilar will step down sometime in the first quarter, and now that we're well into March, the streaming service has additional news. Writing on the Hulu blog, Kilar said that when he departs "at the end of this quarter," senior vice president of content Andy Forssell will assume the role of CEO. In addition to praising Forssell's efforts in expanding Hulu's list of content partners, Kilar mentioned that Hulu part-owners Disney and News Corporation are finalizing "forward-looking plans" with the site. The exiting CEO isn't exactly leaving a company in a shambles; the 2012 financial results were none too shabby, and the paid Hulu Plus service has ballooned to a healthy 3 million users.
Mar. 13, 2013 ? It's the spread of the original cancer tumor that kills most people. That's why cancer researchers vigorously search for drugs that can prevent metastases, the spread of cancer. The research team co-led by Angela Wandinger-Ness, PhD, and Larry Sklar, PhD, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center has found a chemical compound that appears to control cell migration and adhesion, two important characteristics of metastatic cancer cells. The team recently published a paper describing how the first-in-class compound acts on various cells.
Dr. Wandinger-Ness, a UNM Professor of Pathology and Director of the Fluorescence Microscopy and Cell Imaging Shared Resource, studies proteins called GTPases. GTPases act like chemical switches to control how cells behave: how much a cell grows, what shape it assumes, when it enters the next growth stage, and how tightly it sticks to its surroundings, among several hundred other things. Dr. Wandinger-Ness was interested in a particular GTPase called Cdc42; it controls cell migration and cell adhesion. "It's an important target in many diseases," says Dr. Wandinger-Ness. "Cancer is just one. But there were no compounds that target this GTPase." So she collaborated with Dr. Sklar and Tudor Oprea, MD, PhD, to find a compound that did. And they were successful.
Dr. Sklar is a UNM Professor of Pathology and co-Leader of the Cancer Biology and Biotechnology Research Group at the UNM Cancer Center. He created and now oversees the UNM Center for Molecular Discovery. Dr. Oprea is a UNM Professor of Medicine and co-Director of the Flow Cytometry & High Throughput Screening Shared Resource at the UNM Cancer Center. He analyzed Cdc42 using three-dimensional molecular rendering software. The team used Dr. Oprea's analysis of Cdc42 to visualize how a compound might interact with the Cdc42 GTPase to stifle its activity. Then they searched for such a compound in the UNM Molecular Discovery library.
The search process was akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but the latest high throughput flow cytometry equipment and molecular rendering software available at the UNM Cancer Center speeded their analysis significantly. The team analyzed thousands of compound candidates by first narrowing their search to the few hundred likely candidates and then testing those against several kinds of GPTases at a time. "From a purely discovery perspective, that's a high impact, novel way to look for small molecules," says Dr. Sklar. The compound they found is called CID2950007.
Structurally similar to NSAIDs -- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- CID2950007 restrains the Cdc42 GTPase from changing a cell's cytoskeleton. Much like a skeleton gives a human body shape, a cell's cytoskeleton keeps the cell from collapsing on itself. The cytoskeleton enables a cell to move by growing amoeba-like legs called filopodia. Cdc42 also helps to keep cells where they need to be by enabling them to adhere more tightly to their surroundings. So, while uncontrolled growth and movement are hallmarks of metastatic cancer cells, growth and adherence are important traits for healthy cells. Tightly controlling just how Cdc42 causes a cell to behave is crucial.
In the paper published February 4, 2013, the team of scientists report that CID2950007 was the only compound they found that affected the Cdc42 GTPase without affecting any other GTPases. This selectivity is important to control the compound's effects on a cell. They also found that the compound works by changing the physical structure of Cdc42, so it doesn't destroy Cdc42 but it does control how Cdc42 interacts with other proteins in the cell. Their studies showed that CID2950007 decreased filopodia growth and cell adhesion in ovarian cancer cells and prevented cell adhesion in white blood cells. And their studies demonstrated that CID2950007 blocked Hantavirus infection in monkey kidney cells. By affecting the Cdc42 GTPase, and thus the cytoskeleton, CID2950007 has the potential to fight not only cancer but also infectious diseases.
Human use of CID2950007 as a cancer drug is a long way off. Before the Food and Drug Administration approves any drug for human use, it first requires the successful results of several toxicity and dose escalation studies on several types of animals. Then, the clinical trials process, which can take over 10 years, may begin.
"There are going to be a lot of side effects because these adhesion proteins have many other functions," says Dr. Sklar. So refining CID2950007 into a drug will take further collaboration and studies before toxicity studies and dose escalation studies can begin. To refine the compound, the UNM Cancer Center researchers will continue to collaborate with Jeffrey Aub?, PhD, Kansas University Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, and Jennifer Golden, PhD, Assistant Director of the Specialized Chemistry Center at Kansas University. Still, control of GTPase Cdc42 offers promise as a way to control cancer metastasis. Says Dr. Wandinger-Ness, "there's a lot of enthusiasm for a compound like this -- because there weren't any. This is a first-in-class."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of New Mexico Cancer Center.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
L. Hong, S. R. Kenney, G. K. Philips, D. Simpson, C. E. Schroeder, J. Noth, E. Romero, S. Swanson, A. Waller, J. J. Strouse, M. Carter, A. Chigaev, O. Ursu, T. Oprea, B. Hjelle, J. E. Golden, J. Aube, L. G. Hudson, T. Buranda, L. A. Sklar, A. Wandinger-Ness. Characterization of a Cdc42 GTPase Inhibitor and its Use as a Molecular Probe. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2013; DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M112.435941
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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.
BlackBerry?s (BBRY) next-generation BlackBerry Z10 smartphone will finally become available on AT&T (T) beginning March 22nd. The nation?s No.2 carrier announced on Monday that it will begin taking preorders for the BlackBerry Z10 on March 12th ahead of the phone?s release next Friday. The Z10 will cost $199.99 with a two-year agreement, as expected, and customers can register on AT&T?s website to be notified as soon as preorders go live. BGR reviewed the BlackBerry Z10 last month and called it a huge step in the right direction, but we wondered if it would be enough to draw a significant number of users from more established platforms. AT&T?s full press release follows below.
AT&T to Launch BlackBerry Z10 March 22 for $199.99, Pre-sales Begin March 12
[More from BGR: How the industry shift from miniaturization to display quality blindsided Motorola]
Only AT&T customers can experience the new BlackBerry Z10 on the Nation?s Fastest 4G LTE Network
Dallas, Texas, March 11, 2013
Wireless customers looking for a?smartphone?that helps them balance the important aspects of their lives will soon have a new option.? Beginning March 12,?AT&T* ?will kick-off consumer pre-sales of the BlackBerry? Z10 smartphone for $199.99 with a two-year agreement athttp://www.att.com/z10.? The smartphone will be generally available for all customers, including corporate customers or those receiving a corporate discount, through all AT&T channels on March 22.
The BlackBerry Z10 is the first smartphone to launch with the re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry? 10 platform, offering customers a powerful and unique new mobile experience. It is the fastest and most advanced BlackBerry smartphone yet, and is designed to continuously adapt to a customer?s needs.
The BlackBerry Z10 features an all-touch keyboard and provides a modern and easy typing experience.? The BlackBerry Z10 also features a high-resolution 4.2-inch display and an 8-megapixel camera that records 1080p HD video.
?AT&T customers were the first to experience BlackBerry smartphones and services in the U.S. and we are thrilled to bring the next evolution, the BlackBerry Z10, to the nation?s fastest?4G LTE network,? said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices and Developer Services,?AT&T Mobility. ?Customers who have grown to love the tried and true BlackBerry experience will continue to enjoy the easy typing and the secure platform they expect with a fresh platform that lets them get more out of their smartphone with easy access to all their messages in BlackBerry Hub.?
BlackBerry 10 is?a re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry?platform that gives customers a faster and smarter experience that continuously adapts to their needs with advancements such as:
BlackBerry? Hub?acts as a central location for your emails and conversations.? You can easily peek into the Hub from any app with one swipe to see what?s new, then instantly swipe back to what you were doing.
The new?BlackBerry Touchscreen Keyboard?learns how you write and adapts to your typing style so you can write faster and more accurately.
BlackBerry fans have long loved BlackBerry? Messenger (BBM?).? The new BlackBerry Z10 features?BBM? Video?and?Screen Share?so you can catch up face-to-face and share the content on your screen** with your friend or co-worker.
Taking photos and creating memories is easier with?Time Shift, an astonishing camera feature? that captures the moments before and after you press the shutter to let you create the best shot,and?BlackBerry Story Maker, which lets you weave those moments together to create a movie in just a couple of swipes.
BlackBerry Balance??technology allows you to use your Z10 for work and play without compromising the security of your business-related content when connected to BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.
The BlackBerry Z10 will be the first BlackBerry smartphone to run on AT&T 4G LTE, the nation?s fastest 4G LTE network***. AT&T has the nation?s largest 4G network, covering 288 million people.***
AT&T is also launching the new BlackBerry? Enterprise Service (BES) 10 solution, which gives AT&T business and government customers with BlackBerry 10 smartphones secure access to work email, ?behind the firewall? applications and data, and offers other security and advanced enterprise mobility management features.? BES 10 provides an additional option for AT&T enterprise customers to choose from when deciding which Mobile Enterprise Management solution best serves their needs. Customers can also benefit from AT&T?s extensive experience helping companies create comprehensive mobility strategies.? AT&T leverages best practices and proven frameworks to address nearly every enterprise mobility challenge.
Contact: Caroline Perry cperry@seas.harvard.edu 617-496-1351 Harvard University
Multi-university research will focus on innovative materials for the automotive, building and construction, and energy sectors
Cambridge, Mass. March 11, 2013 BASF SE, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst have established a research initiative called the "North American Center for Research on Advanced Materials."
A major goal of this initiative is to jointly develop new materials for the automotive, building and construction, and energy industries. The cooperation is initially planned for five years, during which time approximately 20 new postdoctoral positions will be created at the three universities.
"We are thrilled to be a part of this multidisciplinary, multi-institutional endeavor, which will connect and amplify Harvard's strengths in advanced materials research," said Cherry A. Murray, Dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "The agreement reinforces our commitment to the pursuit of cutting-edge research targeted at high-impact areas of application."
Scientists and engineers from several disciplines such as chemistry, physics, and biology will collaborate in this research initiative. The academic partners contribute not only their expertise in materials science, modeling, and formulation methods, but also offer interesting, new approaches to conducting research. Besides fundamental scientific knowledge, BASF researchers will contribute the necessary experience in transforming research results into technically feasible processes and products. In addition, they will provide input about which materials are needed in different industries and applications.
The ideas and topics to be researched will be decided jointly by the researchers participating in the initiative. Topics already identified include micro- and nanostructured polymers with new properties, as well as bioinspired materials. The scientists are working on lightweight construction materials for wind turbines and automotive construction, for example, and on new color effects for cosmetic applications.
The new, multi-university initiative builds on the successful model pioneered by the BASF Advanced Research Initiative that was based at Harvard SEAS from October 2007 to present. Established with leadership from Harvard's Office of Technology Development, that initiative engaged 13 academic research groups across the University and resulted in significant advances in the study of biofilms and of chemical formulations for drugs, foods, and cosmetics.
"Our relationship with BASF provides us with many excellent scientific problems that are both intellectually challenging and relevant to real-world needs," said SEAS faculty member David Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard. "We're thrilled to continue this collaboration and have the opportunity to share insights across institutions in a new way. Anything that helps build interactions among the incredible talent in this region is good for all of us."
Weitz will serve on a scientific advisory committee along with George Whitesides, Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard; Robert Langer and Mary Boyce at MIT; and Todd Emrick and Alan Lesser at UMass Amherst, along with BASF scientists.
"We need the creative spirit of the widest possible range of sciences to develop solutions to meet the needs of a growing world population for clean drinking water, secure energy supply, and improved quality of life," said Christian Fischer, President of BASF's Advanced Materials and Systems Research. "I am convinced that BASF's market-oriented materials and systems researchers, together with the outstanding scientists at the American universities, make up the ideal team for seeking out technically and economically viable solutions."
###
About the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences serves as the connector and integrator of Harvard's teaching and research efforts in engineering, applied sciences, and technology. Through collaboration with researchers from all parts of Harvard, other universities, and corporate and foundational partners, we bring discovery and innovation directly to bear on improving human life and society. For more information, visit http://seas.harvard.edu.
About the Harvard Office of Technology Development
The Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD) provides a one-stop shop to advance the development of groundbreaking discoveries by fostering strategic collaborations with industry through licensing, sponsored research and new venture agreements. OTD's mission is to make the fruits of Harvard research more accessible outside the University, including underserved communities, and ensure that society benefits from Harvard innovations by fostering their swift, professional and effective development and commercialization. Visit http://otd.harvard.edu.
About BASF
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,900 employees in North America, and had sales of $18.7 billion in 2012. For more information about BASF's North American operations, visit http://www.basf.us.
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of 78.7 billion in 2012 and had more than 113,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at http://www.basf.com.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Caroline Perry cperry@seas.harvard.edu 617-496-1351 Harvard University
Multi-university research will focus on innovative materials for the automotive, building and construction, and energy sectors
Cambridge, Mass. March 11, 2013 BASF SE, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst have established a research initiative called the "North American Center for Research on Advanced Materials."
A major goal of this initiative is to jointly develop new materials for the automotive, building and construction, and energy industries. The cooperation is initially planned for five years, during which time approximately 20 new postdoctoral positions will be created at the three universities.
"We are thrilled to be a part of this multidisciplinary, multi-institutional endeavor, which will connect and amplify Harvard's strengths in advanced materials research," said Cherry A. Murray, Dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. "The agreement reinforces our commitment to the pursuit of cutting-edge research targeted at high-impact areas of application."
Scientists and engineers from several disciplines such as chemistry, physics, and biology will collaborate in this research initiative. The academic partners contribute not only their expertise in materials science, modeling, and formulation methods, but also offer interesting, new approaches to conducting research. Besides fundamental scientific knowledge, BASF researchers will contribute the necessary experience in transforming research results into technically feasible processes and products. In addition, they will provide input about which materials are needed in different industries and applications.
The ideas and topics to be researched will be decided jointly by the researchers participating in the initiative. Topics already identified include micro- and nanostructured polymers with new properties, as well as bioinspired materials. The scientists are working on lightweight construction materials for wind turbines and automotive construction, for example, and on new color effects for cosmetic applications.
The new, multi-university initiative builds on the successful model pioneered by the BASF Advanced Research Initiative that was based at Harvard SEAS from October 2007 to present. Established with leadership from Harvard's Office of Technology Development, that initiative engaged 13 academic research groups across the University and resulted in significant advances in the study of biofilms and of chemical formulations for drugs, foods, and cosmetics.
"Our relationship with BASF provides us with many excellent scientific problems that are both intellectually challenging and relevant to real-world needs," said SEAS faculty member David Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard. "We're thrilled to continue this collaboration and have the opportunity to share insights across institutions in a new way. Anything that helps build interactions among the incredible talent in this region is good for all of us."
Weitz will serve on a scientific advisory committee along with George Whitesides, Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard; Robert Langer and Mary Boyce at MIT; and Todd Emrick and Alan Lesser at UMass Amherst, along with BASF scientists.
"We need the creative spirit of the widest possible range of sciences to develop solutions to meet the needs of a growing world population for clean drinking water, secure energy supply, and improved quality of life," said Christian Fischer, President of BASF's Advanced Materials and Systems Research. "I am convinced that BASF's market-oriented materials and systems researchers, together with the outstanding scientists at the American universities, make up the ideal team for seeking out technically and economically viable solutions."
###
About the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences serves as the connector and integrator of Harvard's teaching and research efforts in engineering, applied sciences, and technology. Through collaboration with researchers from all parts of Harvard, other universities, and corporate and foundational partners, we bring discovery and innovation directly to bear on improving human life and society. For more information, visit http://seas.harvard.edu.
About the Harvard Office of Technology Development
The Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD) provides a one-stop shop to advance the development of groundbreaking discoveries by fostering strategic collaborations with industry through licensing, sponsored research and new venture agreements. OTD's mission is to make the fruits of Harvard research more accessible outside the University, including underserved communities, and ensure that society benefits from Harvard innovations by fostering their swift, professional and effective development and commercialization. Visit http://otd.harvard.edu.
About BASF
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,900 employees in North America, and had sales of $18.7 billion in 2012. For more information about BASF's North American operations, visit http://www.basf.us.
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of 78.7 billion in 2012 and had more than 113,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at http://www.basf.com.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Environmentalists say that a five-year training program proposed by the Navy off the coast of Southern California would ramp up sonar activity and underwater detonations that could pose a threat to endangered marine mammals like the blue whale.
The California Coastal Commission is expected to rule at a hearing in San Diego on Friday on whether more protective measures are needed before the program begins in January and runs through 2019.
In its proposal, the Navy estimates the increased activity would have a negligible impact on marine populations.
"We believe mitigation measures that are highly effective have been in place for years," said Alex Stone, who directs the Navy's program.
The Navy's testing area encompasses 120,000 nautical square miles of the Pacific off the Southern California coast and includes a corridor between the state and Hawaii, among other areas.
The commission's staff has recommended that approval be contingent on a list of conditions. They include requiring that the Navy create safety zones that would guarantee no high-intensity sonar activity near marine sanctuaries and protected areas and in spots that experience a high concentration of blue, fin and gray whales seasonally. The staff says a kilometer from shore should also be off-limits to protect bottlenose dolphins.
Stone declined to comment on the conditions until after he testifies at Friday's hearing.
The commission set out similar conditions to the Navy in 2007 and 2009 but the Navy refused to accept them both times.
The commission sued the Navy over the matter, leading to a preliminary injunction in 2008, though then-President George W. Bush gave an exemption for the training. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the lower court's decision.
"Twice the commission has approved the Navy's plans but set reasonable conditions to protect coastal wildlife, and twice the Navy has spurned the commission's recommendations," said Michael Jasny with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We think this time the commission should give us a stronger message and object to the Navy proposal and ask them to return with a more responsible plan that achieves military readiness and protects the coastal resources of this state."
Jasny's organization and three dozen others say they want the Navy to avoid important habitat for vulnerable species, like endangered blue and fin whales, beaked whales, and migrating gray whales. They also want the Navy to not use sonar training and underwater detonations at night, when marine mammals are extremely hard to detect. And they want the Navy to be required to use its own acoustic monitoring network to help detect marine mammals.
They also say that from May through October ships should slow to 10 knots in areas with baleen whales, to avoid hitting them.
Scientists say there is still much to be learned about how much sonar activity affects marine animals. Studies have shown some species such as beaked whales may be adversely affected by some forms of it.
LONDON (Reuters) - A unexpectedly sharp rise in hiring by U.S. employers in February sent world shares and the dollar higher on Friday while U.S. Treasuries fell as investors bet on a solid recovery in the world's largest economy.
U.S. stock index futures pointed to Wall Street gaining on the data with the S&P 500 <.spx> on track for a sixth straight daily gain and the Dow <.dji> set to scale fresh peaks.
Nonfarm payrolls surged by 236,000 jobs last month, the U.S. Labor Department said, easily beating forecasts for a gain of 160,000 and driving the jobless rate down to a four-year low of 7.7 percent.
"This was a strong number and one of those rare cases where we were firing on all cylinders," said Jacob Oubina, senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York.
"Having said that, this will likely not mean much for Fed policy as they will need to see more than one month of strong numbers and if it is sustained."
The dollar climbed as high as 96.54 yen after the data, a fresh 3-1/2-year high, and added about 0.6 percent against the euro, sending the single currency down to $1.3030.
The encouraging economic news sent safe-haven 10-year Treasury notes down 20/32 to yield 2.063 percent while the 30-year bond dropped 1-06/32 to yield 3.264 percent.
European shares also jumped on the news, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> of top European shares rising 0.8 percent and helping send MSCI's world equity index <.miwd00000pus> up 0.2 percent to a high last seen in mid 2008.
After 12 years of performing together, four albums and a Grammy nomination, My Chemical Romance has announced the band is splitting up. The musicians posted the news of their break-up on the band’s official website, thanking fans for their support and revealing their time as a group has come to an end. The statement reads, ...
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Public release date: 11-Mar-2013
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